


Half a Puppet

by Dimonds456



Series: Half a Puppet- Steven Universe [1]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: ((i can’t believe I forgot to tag that), (That's an actual chapter name lol), :), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amethyst POV, Battle, Beach City humans with swords, Bleached! Steven Universe, Canon Divergence, Doug the Badass, Electric Torture, Episode: s05e29-32 Change Your Mind, Fight Scene, Future Vision, Gen, Giving the Humans a Chance to Shine: Parts 1-X, Greg with a sword, Greggo is out here trying his best, Homeworld - Freeform, Homeworld actually helping the protagonists for once, I Am My Mom 2: Electric Boogaloo, I blame Lucigoosey for one certain OC i have in here, I could probably write a whole "Horse Loose in the Hospital" parody for this tbh, I know where this is going now- be afraid, I think this is going well. Be a shame if it didn't., I want to continue but I’m not sure where this is going, I’ll add more tags as we go!, John Mulaney quotes are the best lol, Lars of the Stars, Lars the Badass, Possessed! Steven Universe, Possession, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prison Escape, Race Against Time, Rejuvenation, Reunited 2: Electric Boogaloo, Revolution, Servants, Spoilers for Episode: s05e29-32 Change Your Mind, Steven Universe Has PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Steven has issues, Steven isn't here so someone has to play him, The prison tower, This is either going to go really well or it won't. This is a fictional story to place your bets., Volleyball is a precious <3, also writing the humans fighting has been so much fun y'all don't even know, beached Crystal Gems, bleached Diamonds, breaking news: flighty blue bitch gets what she deserves, but White Diamond is a heckin meanie, connie is MVP, don't tempt me, doug maheswaran pov, everybody is out here just trying their best, except white, jail break, maaaany a fight scene, more at 13, none of the gems deserve what's happening here, oops i just did, pardon my language, servitude, so hit subscribe aha, white’s head
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-18 21:14:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 46,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimonds456/pseuds/Dimonds456
Summary: White was speaking, and somewhere in all that, Steven heard Connie’s voice say something, call his name, probably either telling him it wasn’t true or trying to reassure him. Her words fell on deaf ears, though, as the storm in Steven’s mind was too loud for him to hear anything else.That’s why he didn’t notice the beam until it was too late.Alternate take of events in Change Your Mind.
Relationships: (but that one's more hinted at don't worry), Amethyst & Connie Maheswaran, Aquamarine & Connie Maheswaran, Bismuth & Connie Maheswaran, Bismuth/Pearl (Steven Universe), Blue Diamond & Steven Universe & White Diamond & Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond & Steven Universe & Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond's Pearl & White Diamond's Pearl & Yellow Diamond's Pearl (Steven Universe), Blue Diamond's Pearl & Yellow Diamond's Pearl (Steven Universe), Connie Maheswaran & Doug Maheswaran, Connie Maheswaran & Doug Maheswaran & Priyanka Maheswaran, Connie Maheswaran & Greg Universe, Connie Maheswaran & Pearl, Connie Maheswaran & Peridot, Connie Maheswaran & Priyanka Maheswaran, Connie Maheswaran & Steven Universe, Connie Maheswaran/Steven Universe, Crystal Gems & Connie Maheswaran, Doug Maheswaran & Lars Barriga, Doug Maheswaran/Priyanka Maheswaran, Garnet & Connie Maheswaran, Lapis Lazuli & Connie Maheswaran, Lars Barriga & Off Colors, Lars Barriga & Steven Universe, Lars Barriga/Sadie Miller, Mean Lapis & Nice Lapis, Pink Diamond's Pearl & Steven Universe, Ruby/Sapphire (Steven Universe), Steven Universe & Everyone, Steven Universe & White Diamond
Series: Half a Puppet- Steven Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2152323
Comments: 142
Kudos: 72





	1. “[White Diamond] Beams”

Steven could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he watched Connie fight. She had jumped into White’s head like the angel she was, immediately running in to assist in talking to White. When she hadn’t accounted for was that White was faster, and before either of the two children knew it, Pearl- possessed by White- had disarmed and grabbed Connie, rendering her helpless. She twisted in Pearl’s arms, trying to break herself free, but it was no use.

Steven himself was thrown on the floor by Garnet and Amethyst, also possessed by White, landing on his hands and knees. He scrambled to his feet quickly, sparing a glance toward Connie for a split second before turning back to White. “Let her go,” he demanded, feeling his resolve strengthen.

“These worthless gems weren’t enough, were they?” White asked, ignoring him. “See how you surround yourself with lower life forms? You’ve smothered yourself in them. It feels good, doesn’t it, Pink?” She grinned at him knowingly. “Dulling your power, hiding your face, blaming all your problems on someone else.” 

Steven opened his mouth to interject, but White wasn’t done talking just yet. “You became Rose Quartz-“ she spoke the name with a hint of disdain- “to deceive your pathetic friends, and now you’ve improved on that because you’re even deceiving yourself.”

“No. You’re wrong.” Steven glared up at her, trying with everything he could to believe it. “I’m not my mom!”

“But don’t you know things about her that you couldn’t possibly know?”

At this, Steven froze. It was true- he had many dreams from her point of view, visions, emotions. This huge vortex stormed within him, asking that exact question and so many like it. Was he his mom, and all of this was a lie? But, that wouldn’t make sense- he and Rose were so very different from each other! ...Right? Their gem weapon was the same, but he felt those same protective instincts he always imagined she’d felt. He felt her guilt over the suffering she caused others. He had to shoulder her legacy. But, that didn’t mean they were the same, right?

Steven was beginning to doubt. Well, no, not beginning to- it was just impossible to ignore and shove down now. 

White was speaking, and somewhere in all that, Steven heard Connie’s voice say something, call his name, probably either telling him it wasn’t true or trying to reassure him. Her words fell on deaf ears, though, as the storm in Steven’s mind was too loud for him to hear anything else.

That’s why he didn’t notice the beam until it was too late.

Connie shrieked as White Diamond’s mind control beam hit Steven, impacting his gem first, then the glow spread out until his whole body was glowing white. Steven cried out, not because it was painful, but because of how  _ jarring _ the experience was. He could feel bits of himself turn numb-like, though not quite since he could still feel his joints, but something akin to it, like they didn’t belong to him anymore. It started from his belly, then spread outward.

By the time the beam faded, Steven had fallen on his hands and knees, struggling to breathe, struggling to move. Connie screamed his name over and over, and he could hear her struggling to escape from Pearl’s grasp, but his mind was… numb. Like zoning out, but not completely. It was almost like half of it just shut down.

He felt her hand on his back, and relief could be felt… somewhere. But it was almost locked in a cage, like it didn’t belong to him anymore. He could feel it, it was right there, just out of reach-!

“Steven! A-are you okay?! Say something!” Connie’s breath was coming out short and fast, verging on hyperventilation. He felt her other hand touch his back; she was shaking him now.

_ I’m okay, Connie, I think, _ he wanted to say. He wanted to lift his head up so he could meet her eyes and give her a small smile, just enough to let her know it was alright. But he couldn’t move. He tried to lift his hand. Nothing happened. He tried to push himself up off the floor. Nothing happened. He tried to summon his shield. Nothing happened. He tried again to summon his shield. Nothing happened.

“Steven,  _ please!” _ Connie shook him harder, and the pure panic that was coming off of her in waves hit Steven so hard he thought he might collapse. “Please say something! Look at me!” Her hand was on his chin now, trying to lift his face up.

Suddenly, he was finally able to move. He let Connie’s hand guide his face, and was able to look into her eyes. She had tears welling there, though her frown was quickly replaced with a relieved smile. “There you are! Don’t scare me like that!”

Steven smiled- a little wider that he’d intended- and let out a small chuckle. “Sorry about that. White Diamond’s mind control beam just felt relieving for a moment there.”

... _ What?! _

__ Steven hadn’t meant to say that. That wasn’t him. He’d wanted to say  _ Sorry, I just… couldn’t move for a second there, but I’m okay now, I think. _ But he didn’t. 

Connie quirked an eyebrow, smile faltering. “...Relieving?”

Steven chuckled again, a hollow sound that  _ he didn’t want to make, _ and continued to hold his too-wide grin. “Yes, relieving! I feel much better now!”

Connie stiffened, all relief gone. “Steven, are you sure you’re alright?”

_ No! _ Steven screamed in his head.  _ I’m not! She’s got me, Connie! Help! I can’t move! Get out of here, RUN! _

__ “Oh, don’t worry about her,” White Diamond said from her spot in the room. Connie’s head whipped around to face her, eyes blown wide with fear and panic. “It’ll take some time, but she’ll be herself again soon! She just needs to become acquainted with Homeworld first, I’m sure! Why don’t you crawl back to your precious Earth, little pet?” Steven couldn’t see White from where he was positioned, but he watched as Connie’s fearful expression intensified, concern and worry creasing her features. She turned back to Steven, who was still smiling an unnaturally large smile for no reason, then back to White. “I’m sure the lapis out there wouldn’t mind taking you away.”

Connie glared at White, standing up and pointing at Steven. “What did you DO to him?!” 

_C_ _ onnie, no! _ Steven wanted to scream at her to stop before something bad happened, but his mouth wouldn’t budge. Instead, he stood up, a much-too-smooth motion coming from him, and he pulled his arms up into a shrug. “She helped me,” Steven wound up saying. “I see clearly now!”

Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes, meaning that no, he could no longer see clearly.

Connie saw them, though they were small. Her eyes searched the rest of his expression, and she saw something hidden there. Her own tears made a reappearance. “...Steven?”

Steven shook his head. “No. I’m sorry for the confusion and the lying, but my name is Pink Diamond.” The grin stayed the same, mocking him and her together. The tears threatened to fall any second now.

Connie seemed three seconds away from breaking down, and she was aware of it. Instead, she moved forward, flinging her arms around Steven and burying her face in his neck. “I’m gonna get you out of here,” she told him, squeezing him tighter. “I promise. Peri, Bismuth, Lapis and I? We’re not leaving until we break you free- until we break you all free. I promise you, Steven. I promise.”

The tears finally broke free. But, the usual sobbing that accompanied them was not there- just the soulless grin that White Diamond was making him display. 


	2. Well That Happened.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Connie struggles to understand what’s happening, and what to do from here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy, this story.
> 
> So, my plan is that I’m just going to write. I have an idea in my head of different points I want to hit, and how to get there, now we just gotta write it out, right?
> 
> This is a shorter chapter, but I kinda like this shorter-chapter style, since it allows me to process different pieces of the story differently, and go at my own pace, rather than pushing myself to make 10 pages on Word every time. So each chapter will be a different length, but all probably shorter than y’all are used to from me. 
> 
> That being said, enjoy!

Connie didn’t know what to do. Her first friend, her best friend, her  _ jambud _ , was now under White Diamond’s control, unable to move or do or say anything he wanted to. He could barely even emote at all- the smallest twitches in his eyebrows and the tears rolling down his cheeks were the only things giving away that Steven was still…  _ present. _

She knew that this must be a hybrid thing, since none of the other six possessed gems in the room were showing these signs. If they were aware, then White had more control over them than she did Steven since they didn't emote at all. He was still Caucasian, brandishing sun-tanned skin, brown hair and eyes, a red shirt, yellow star. His mouth was different shades of pink and red. The other gems were all greyscale, like they were put through a black-and-white filter.

She knew that the real answer would lie just under his shirt. If she could see his gem, then she would have a definite answer as to what was going on. However, she couldn’t bring herself to let go of Steven. She clung to him, trying  _ so hard _ not to completely break down. She wasn’t even fully sure why she was as upset as she was (not that she didn’t care, because she DID, she just wasn’t usually one for falling apart). Steven was  _ here. _ He was  _ alive. _ White could have done worse, right?

But that was the thing, wasn’t it? He was alive, and he was present, but he was also trapped. He was unable to respond to  _ anything _ she was doing. 

So, she clung to him. Until White ripped Connie away, she decided she was going to stay there forever until she came up with a new plan.

“NYAAHHHH!!” A loud thud sounded from a ways away. Looking up over Steven's shoulder, the young teenager watched as Bismuth, Peridot, and finally Lapis Lazuli all leaped into White’s head, fully prepared to join a fight. They landed together dramatically, congregating back to back. “Listen up you nail-heads! The Crystal Gems are gonna-!” Bismuth trailed off as she took in the scene.

Connie felt her grip on Steven relax just a tiny bit. “Bismuth and the others are here,” she told Steven, who was facing away from them. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Steven didn’t respond.

“Well! Looks like we have even more guests to join the party!” White Diamond laughed, Blue, Yellow, the Crystal Gems, and that pearl of hers laughing too. “We were just talking about you!”

“Whu… What’s going on here?!” Lapis shouted, glancing around in terror. 

“What did you DO to them?!” Bismuth lended her voice as well, glaring up at the bright gem in question. 

Peridot’s eyes, which had been locked onto White since she arrived, finally strayed. She and Connie locked gazes, and her pupils shrunk. “ _ STEVEN _ !” She shrieked, leaning forward on her trash can lid. In response, it shot forward, coming to a halt beside the two children. She put a hand on his shoulder, lightly shoving Connie away to make for room for herself as she practically fell off her trash can lid. “What happened?! Are you okay? Is he okay??” She turned to look at Connie now.

She shook her head in response. “White Diamond, she- I- she took him, she- he’s under her control, and- and I-“ Connie hadn’t realized until now that her whole body was trembling. Her hands clutched at the fabric of her shirt, just above her chest. Tears flowed down her cheeks that she didn’t bother to wipe away. “I don’t know what to do, he’s right there, but he’s not, and I-“

Lapis landed on the kid’s other side, having heard their conversation and swooping closer. “White took control of him?”

Connie nodded. 

“She did, but don’t worry, I feel excellent now!” All eyes turned to Steven, who still had his hands in that shrug motion. “She made me see- I’m not Steven or Rose Quartz. I’m Pink Diamond.”

Lapis’ gaze hardened, horror flitting across her face. “WHAT?!” Peridot and Bismuth both shouted at the same time, the latter now breaking into a sprint to stand by her friend’s sides. 

“I feel much better, and have decided to stay home,” Steven- White Diamond- continued. “Could you three please escort my pet back to Earth?”

Connie felt her heart sink, taking an instinctual step away from him. She knew that wasn’t Steven talking, it was so  _ obviously _ White, but hearing those words come from his mouth, in  _ his voice _ , just felt all kinds of awful and  _ wrong. _ She knew this was something that would stain her mind for many nightmares to come after this, no matter what happened next. 

“Alright, you UPPER CRUST,” Bismuth suddenly yelled out, pointing a pickaxe-like hand in White's direction. “LET HIM AND THE OTHER GEMS GO, NOW!”

“Here, I can send for a fast ship to get you all there as fast as possible,” White spoke from up above, completely ignoring Bismuth for the time being. “That way, you might make it back before the organic passes on.”

Connie's heart stopped sinking, opting to do a death drop instead into her stomach. She moved forward, and found herself clinging onto Steven even harder than before now. Was White implying that Connie was going to die out here? Dehydration and starvation were both very imminent threats, but if Connie might die, then so could Steven, for the same reasons. Did White know that? 

She felt a shudder run down Steven’s spine, causing his arms to shiver for just a second, but he didn’t emote further than that.

“WHAT?! We are NOT leaving!” Lapis’ water wings flared behind her. “Not until you give us back our friends!”

White was silent for a moment. She looked to the water gem in a condescending way, before closing her eyes. Her smile softened just a little bit, her eyebrows creasing together just a tiny hint. If you didn’t know what to look for, you’d never have seen it.

Connie, however, had seen her do this four times now. 

Moving fast, she pushed up and away from Steven, shoving the water gem away just as the white beam of light shot from White’s eyes. Lapis’ mouth fell open in shock as Connie took the hit for her, the other two gems- and quite possibly, Steven- watching with horror.

The beam wasn’t painful- what it  _ was _ was hot. It was uncomfortable, sending sweat down Connie’s forehead as she was hit head-on. However, it only lasted a few seconds, and after that, it was over.

She was fine. It was like nothing had happened.

She was panting hard, and immediately turned her gaze upward. White was looking at her with surprise, blinking a few times as if trying to process what she was seeing. Then, she shook it off, smiling again. “You know, the organic is right,” she announced in an almost sing-song-y way. “You should all head to Earth now, before anyone else gets hurt.” 

“Yes. In fact, I could help to show them a good ship,” Not-Steven spoke up,  _ finally _ bringing his arms down a bit.

“That’s a  _ wonderful _ idea, Starlight! You go ahead and do just that.”

“No!” Connie put herself between him and White, facing the larger of the two, trying in vain to protect Steven from the threat of her presence. “White, please, he’s organic too! If he stays here like this, he could die!”

“Hurry along now, and make sure to get the best ship you can manage,” White cooed, narrowing her eyes. 

“Yes, White Diamond, I will be sure to do that.” Steven’s smile didn’t waver at all, making it even more unnerving to behold. Instead, he brought a hand up to rest on Connie's shoulder, with no pressure behind the touch to indicate anything but an act. “Let us go now to the shipyard.”

"No!” Connie turned around, gripping Steven's shoulders and looking into his eyes. She knew, she  _ knew _ it wasn't Steven saying these things, but the frustration in her did not care. “We're NOT leaving until we figure out how to help you!”

"Connie.” Bismuth's large hand- shapeshifted back to normal- rested on her head, messing up her hair just a bit. “We have nothing to fight her with. She ain't listening, so until we form a new plan…”

Connie sighed, fingers digging into her friend's shirt. "...we don't have a choice,” she finished. Bis hummed in confirmation.

She hated this. She hated everything about this. Every fiber of her being screamed to stay here with Steven, to be with him until this all ended in one way or another. She had made a  _ promise. _ But, she also knew that Bismuth was right. With White standing right there next to them, there was no way they’d be able to do anything for a while.

So, Connie sighed and turned back to Steven. His eyes were wide, though thankfully, he was blinking, just much slower than usual. His eyebrows twitched again, and his right hand gave a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it movement, but other than that, he remained motionless.

_ I’m sorry, _ Connie thought.  _ I’m so, so sorry. _

Lapis moved back over, all of them now huddling together as they tried to comfort each other, mostly in vain. This was the perfect opportunity for a white encasement to appear, Lapis and Peridot exclaiming in surprise, as it wrapped around them. Connie felt the ground shift beneath her as it lifted upwards, carrying them away and off to a different location.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is almost done being written guys, just hang in there for a while. I just have to figure out how to end it aha.
> 
> Connie’s promises are not something she takes lightly, usually. However, she may have been a bit desperate before. But that is just gonna make her all the more determined to set this straight, right?
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Gotta Blast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Team Rocket’s blasting off again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter this time! The perspective switches up a few times, so watch out for that! 
> 
> Side note, Possessed!Steven is kinda fun to write? I mean, it’s absolute torture, but also so fun. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The bubble set down somewhere and popped, revealing to the group a large building that was stuffed  _ full _ of different types of ships. Roaming Eyes, ships that  _ looked _ like Sun Incinerators, warships, and more stuffed the place to max, though there were a few noticeable gaps in the rows upon rows of ships, indicating that some ships were currently in use. The closest ships to them as of now looked like Roaming Eyes, but slightly different shapes and a whole rainbow of different colors.

"Well, here we are!” Steven announced, walking forward. His arms were thrown out to his sides as he presented the shipyard to the Crystal Gems. “This is where all the best ships on Homeworld are kept! I'm sure we can find one appropriate to this mission.”

Peridot clung to Lapis’ arm, letting out a soft whimper. “Bismuth, what do we do?” she asked softly. “We're not actually…  _ leaving, _ are we?”

"I'm not sure,” Bis replied, not taking her gaze off of Steven. The kid in question had wandered towards the ships, carefully inspecting them now. “I don't want to, but we need a place to make a plan. If that place is Earth, then so be it.”

Peri clung harder to Lapis, who placed a hand on the other's head in response.

“Ah, perfect,” Steven announced. He had wandered over to the Roaming Eye-esk ships, reaching out to put his hand on a sapphire-blue one. It was very close in shade to Lapis’ hair, Connie noted. “Not too slow, not too important, not too modern, equipped with all the equipment you'd ever hope to need without the trinkets… yes, this one is perfect.”

Connie's entire body was tensed. She didn't want to leave, not now, not  _ ever _ , but she knew they didn't have a choice. They needed to go someplace White couldn't overhear them or interrupt. The safest place was Earth. Besides, there, they would have Greg, and Connie’s parents, and all the other humans in Beach City who could help form a plan. Maybe it wouldn’t work, but they had to try.

Steven’s soulless eyes watched the group carefully, gaze resting on Connie. The unnatural expression sent a shiver down her spine. “Come now, everyone! I trust the peridot will be able to fly you all back to Earth.” He looked to Peri now, who cowered further behind Lapis in response.

“Yeah.” Bis deadpanned, glaring at the child (but everyone knew the look was not intended for him). “She can do it. Just know this,  _ upper crust; _ you will regret the day you thought you could mess with the Crystal Gems like this. I swear it.”

“How cute.” Steven laughed a laugh that definitely wasn’t his. “I look forward to our next meeting, then! Until next time.” He smiled lightly, blinking quickly at this.

He shooed the Gems onto the Roaming Eye, then shut the door from the outside. Connie looked around, noting that the interior was the same as the Ruby ship had been, except that the color scheme was more akin to Lapis’ skin tone than anything else. Peridot immediately went to the control panel, pushing a few buttons as the engine revved up. 

Connie, instead, took to a window, looking outside at her Jambud one more time. Steven stood perfectly still, watching the ship with a smile, hands folded neatly in front of him. If Connie didn’t know he was possessed, she’d have thought this pose was innocent. Cute. But instead, it came across as hollow and lifeless, a masquerade. That was  _ not _ Steven out there.

“Find a place to sit down,” Peri’s voice murmured from the front seat. “It’s going to take us approximately two hours to reach home again.”

Connie decided she was fine where she was. Her hands grabbed at her dad’s jacket, wishing she had her sword to hold instead, and she felt the fabric. It reminded her of home, which was the last place she wanted to go.

Sliding down the wall, the teen let herself break down. The ship shot into Homeworld’s sky, reluctant and yet hoping to get back to Earth as fast as possible at the same time.

* * *

As soon as the Seeing Eye ship had gone,- a ship designed for sapphires- then the white bubble came up from below and brought Steven back to White’s head. He felt hollow and empty through the whole trip back. He understood why his friends had to go, but he wanted nothing more at that moment to just hold them close, to cling to them and tell them how much he loved them.

He knew he’d see them again. There was no way in the cosmos that  _ that _ band of gems would stay away. The fact that Bismuth  _ hadn’t _ tried to fight White was a surprise enough, but- especially with Connie and Lapis there- Steven had no doubt they’d return. He had to believe that. He had to  _ count _ on that.

Until then, he was placed at the feet of White Diamond once again, smiling a smile that didn’t belong on his face.

“Now that they’re gone,” White sighed, masking (or faking?) relief, “you and I have some very important matters to discuss, Pink.”

For a small moment, hope flared in Steven’s chest. Was White about to let him go?

Unfortunately, she stomped on that kindling before the spark could ignite at all. “You always seem to surprise me in new ways. Why, being so off-color that even I cannot fully control you? That just will not do.”

_...Off-color?_

Steven’s legs moved without his permission, carrying him to stand at her feet, facing outward. He found himself positioned between the other two Diamonds, layer perfectly symmetrical in the original Diamond insignia. His arms were raised into that constant T-pose that White did, and he knew already that in a matter of minutes, his arms would start to hurt. He was already feeling the effects of smiling for so long without pause. Or maybe he was just panicking? That was a very real possibility as well.

“So, until you learn to behave yourself and listen to me,” White continued, “you are to remain here, where I can see you.” She let out a huff, bringing her hand to her face (as everyone in the room followed the motion, the only reason Steven knew she was doing it in the first place). “I really mustn’t spread myself so thin like this, you know? All three Diamonds, plus a few more gems as well? You’re really testing my abilities here, aren’t you, Pink?”

There was so much he wanted to say, words and warnings and pleadings and  _ apologies _ on the very tip of his leaden tongue, demanding to be said.  _ I’m sorry, _ he thought pointedly, hoping that maybe White could hear his thoughts.  _ I’m sorry. I’m not my mom, but I will be if you want me to. Just please, please let us all go. I’ll do what you want, you’ve made your point. Just let us go, and help us heal corruption back on Earth, and then I’m all yours. Please! _

__ White hummed, but didn’t say or do anything else. 

Tears welled in his eyes again, but Steven held no power to stop them as they broke free. He tried, he willed them to stay back (Connie’s words about him dying out here were very real, and dehydration was not how he wanted to go out, thank you), but they wouldn’t- or couldn’t- listen. 

* * *

The team touched down on Earth. Connie was the first one off the ship, sprinting immediately towards the first crowd she saw. Peridot had landed the ship just outside the beach house, and from what Connie could see, Sadie and her band were setting up in the sand nearby. Rhodies moved boxes and equipment around as Sadie and Greg directed them, their voices echoing down the beach.

“Mr. Universe! Mr. Universe!” Connie shouted his name as she took off running down the shore. Her feet sunk in just a little bit, but she didn’t stop, just needed to reach her Jam Bud’s father as fast as she could.

Greg spun around, searching for the source of the voice. His expression lit up as he saw Connie approach. He turned to someone and spoke something, too soft for Connie to hear, before he leaped off the stage and rushed towards her.

“Connie! Thank goodness you guys are okay!” Greg knelt down, ready to pull her into a hug, only to stop as he registered her expression. Connie stopped just in front of him, shaking her head. “I…  _ are _ you guys okay?”

“No.” Connie looked towards the ground. “Everyone is… they all are- Steven’s in trouble.”

At this, Greg’s eyes widened. He tensed, straightening up a bit. “...What do you mean  _ ‘in trouble’?” _

By now, the other three gems had all caught up, and the people hovering around the stage had all stopped what they were doing to listen. Connie glanced around at all the faces in the crowd- some she recognized, most she didn’t- and settled on Greg again. She opened her mouth to explain, but then closed it, not sure where to start.

Bismuth placed a hand on the teen’s shoulder, glancing at her knowingly. “I can explain, if ya want,” she said.

Wordlessly, Connie nodded. She allowed Bismuth to move past her, demanding the audience’s attention. Eyes were drawn to her immediately as she began to describe what happened, starting with her arrival on Homeworld. 

The whole while, Connie didn’t listen. She instead began to think about White, everything she knew about her, and how to use those bits of information in the plan that she was going to create. That they  _ all _ were going to create. Together.

_ Hang in there, Steven, _ she thought.  _ We’re coming. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Give Steven a hug, someone, I beg you. I’m not allowed to do so, no one will let me anywhere near him.
> 
> Also, I keep trying to be funny with my chapter titles, but I suck at it and I apologize. I’m not going to stop doing that, since I find amusement in referencing random things that fit the chapters, but eh. 
> 
> Also also I love Connie but she’s so difficult to write, especially when she’s scared. Are there any people out there who understand Connie? I’d love your feedback aha.
> 
> Also also also I LOVE the Pink was Off-Color theory and so I’m using it lol. I think I used it before in Stolen as well? But I can’t remember so we’re just gonna say this is the first time it’s appeared in one of my fics, though anyone who follows A Second Chance on Tumblr knows that Pink is off-color there, too. But that’s a comic, not a written fic. So hah.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Pick Your Battles.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven dreams about home.

It was quiet.  _ Too _ quiet. None of the gems breathed (except for Steven, which he’d noticed was a bit odd, considering he didn’t have control over himself at the moment), none of them moved, none of them spoke a  _ word. _ So, with nothing else to do or focus on, it was ridiculously easy to zone out.

Steven found his mind taking him away from all this, away from this loss of control, and instead back to Earth. He imagined he was hugging his dad, playing a guitar-ukulele duet on the beach. He imagined he and Connie were sitting in the sand, chatting about that one  _ Unfamiliar Familiar _ fanfiction that he had shared with her, as opposed to the usual other-way-around. He imagined playing checkers against Garnet and  _ winning, _ riding with Lion off to a new place on Earth for them to explore together, of Pearl fussing over him and of Amethyst kicking his butt at Lonely Blade. 

For a few moments, he could pretend like White’s head didn’t exist. He could pretend like nothing was ever wrong between him and his family, and that they’d all just lived like this forever. 

As he and Lapis flew over a jungle together, with Connie and Lion riding beneath them, keeping in time, he couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched. He looked around, but no one was there. It was strange; it was the hotness one feels when being watched, but instead of in one spot, it was  _ all over his body. _

He blinked. “Hey, Lapis, do you see anything?” He asked her, not looking at her as he did so.

“I think you need to stop thinking about your precious Earth, Pink,” Lapis said. “Remember why you’re being punished in the first place?”

Instinctively, Steven blinked away the daydream, coming back to the harsh reality that was White’s head. The greyscale environment was cold and heartless, just as was the temperature in the room. Inwardly, he sighed. This sucked. A lot.

“Now now, Starlight, don’t be that way,” White cooed. “It’s only natural you would go against me like this. We play this same game every time, don’t we, Pink?

Steven wanted to groan. He was  _ not _ Pink- he had no idea what White was even talking about. But sure, why not- for the sake of argument, he is and always has been Pink Diamond. He still doesn’t have her memories, nor is he the same person now from when he’d originally left Homeworld. He-  _ she- _ grew. That means that he wasn’t playing the same, childish game she and White had played before, right? 

“There you go again,” White sighed condescendingly. “You and I both know that you were never fit to run that colony of yours, and never would be. Yellow Diamond should have cleared it with me first, but she was always so  _ brash. _ Of course, you can kid yourself all you want, Starlight- it doesn’t change anything.”

_ No, you’re wrong! _ Steven thought, all doubt that White couldn’t hear him gone.  _ People learn and grow! My mom grew. I have grown! You can, too. You just gotta let me go and I can show you how! _

__ White was silent for a moment. Steven couldn’t hear her thoughts in return. Was she mulling it over? He allowed a flicker of hope once again.

But then? She  _ laughed. _ She laughed like Steven had cracked the funniest joke ever. He cringed inwardly, shrinking back from the sound.

“Starlight, I can assure you, I cannot grow, because I  _ am _ all that I will ever be.” Steven’s cracking lips mouthed along with what she was saying now, and his voice joined hers. “No one can be anything but what they are. Me? I am perfect. You? You are flawed. Off-color. You cannot be anything different, no matter how much you try to lie to yourself.”

He wanted to cover his ears. He wanted to shut her out. That just wasn’t true! He wasn’t the same kid he was two years ago- not even  _ one _ year ago. If he could grow, that meant other people could, too. And he’d seen this for himself, in everyone around him. Pearl was moving on. Garnet’s love was reinforced and made stronger. Amethyst matured. None of them were  _ pretending. _

Steven rolled his eyes. “Pink, Pink, Pink, my dear, you cannot continue to keep this up,” the clashing harmony of voices spoke together. “This kind of thought process is wrong. That is what disrupts Homeworld’s functionality, what makes gems defect. It’s what made  _ you _ defect, dear. You spearheaded a misguided venture, and if you would be so kind as to  _ stop that right now, _ then maybe you can be released in a millennia or two.”

_ A MILLENIA?! _ Steven felt his heart drop.  _ White, I’m going to die if I have to wait that long! I cannot- I can’t- I’m half human. Besides, I didn’t do that, my mom did. Please, listen! I’m NOT her! _

__ Everyone frowned. “Pink Diamond, I order you to stop thinking that way.”

_ No! I can’t! _ Steven felt a droplet of sweat begin to trickle down his forehead, but he could make no move to stop it.  _ I really AM going to dehydrate at this rate, _ he thought frantically. 

White huffed. “Okay then, since you cannot  _ behave-“ _ White said, hinting at a growl in her tone- “I am going to have to punish you in a more traditional sense. Maybe some alone time with no one to talk to whatsoever will banish those thoughts from your head, yes?”

_ So, are you going to let me go? _ Steven thought hopefully. 

“No.”

A white bubble appeared from beneath Steven’s feet, encasing him completely before dropping through the floor. Still stuck T-posing, Steven could only stare straight ahead and wonder what was going to happen next. Completely alone? Surely she didn’t mean…?

The bubble popped, and Steven was dropped in the Prison Tower. It was just as he and Connie had left it- barren black walls, cold floors, and a singular window for light to stream in. 

Only this time, he was completely alone.

“I have many, many issues with your behavior, and until you learn your place again, you are to remain here,” Steven announced to himself. “I didn’t think it was possible for a gem to become even more Off-Color than when they emerged, and yet, you continue to surprise me, Pink.” He laughed. “For the time being, I am going to deal with your so-called ‘friends,’ as they must also be addressed. Spreading myself so thin must be impairing my ability to control you, so with them out of the way, it should come much easier next time.”

Steven shuddered.  _ What are you going to do with them? _

__ “That is none of your concern. Now you stay in here and think over what I have told you, Starlight. Stop going on about the Earth, and your ‘friends,’ and this ‘flaws are good’ nonsense. Once you have done that, we can continue to move forward from there.”

He tried to shake his head.  _ But White! Flaws are what make them so special and unique. If there were no flaws, everyone would be exactly the same! _

__ Steven smiled. “And what is the problem with that?”

Then, his gem hummed. His heart skipped a beat as feeling returned to his belly, spreading outward quickly through his arms and legs. Reflexively, he left out a sigh as he fell to the ground, feeling drained and limp. The cold floor wasn’t helping.

He blinked a few times, then tested his arm. He flexed his fingers, then flicked his wrist. He turned his head, looking around, before sitting upright. He brought his hands to his face, cupping his cheeks, before letting his hands slide to his hair, gripping at it.

“Oh no, no no no,” he murmured, feeling relief that it was his own will to speak those words now, but not enough to drown out the fear that gripped him. “No… she’s gonna… sh-she’s gonna…”

Every horrible possibility flashed through his mind. Cracked. Shattered. Imprisoned forever, like he was. Bubbled. Tortured. Some other Homeworld punishment he didn’t know about. One thing was for sure; she wasn’t going to listen to them at all. Everyone under her control as of now was in real danger.

Steven could only hope that they were smart and played along.

He hugged himself, gripping his arms like a lifeline. The floor was cold. The air was cold. The walls were cold. His blood was cold. He shivered, shaking now as everything hit him. “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I’m so, so sorry…”

If the gems got hurt, it would be because of him. Because he couldn’t keep himself quiet. He just  _ had _ to argue with White, when she had literally  _ all _ the power over the situation. If she did anything to his friends, he’d never forgive himself.

At least Connie, Peri, Bis, and Lapis were safe. Dad was safe. Everyone from Beach City was  _ safe. _

Steven took a small comfort in knowing that, scooting over to and leaning against one of the freezing-cold walls. They would be okay.

At least for now, they would be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh.
> 
> Y’know, picking fights with a giant intergalactic dictator who currently controls your every move probably wasn’t the best idea, but okay, go off.
> 
> ~~Also, don’t worry; Possessed!Steven will return. ;)~~


	5. I vote we go in weapons swinging.

Bismuth had finished explaining the story about five minutes ago, detailing as much as she could from the Diamonds getting possessed, to suddenly literally everyone else- Steven included- also being forcefully taken under White’s wing, and now she, Peridot, and Lapis were answering questions. The crowd, now joined by most of Beach City's citizens, mulled over the information they’d been given, looking at each other worriedly. Greg, in particular, had long since sat down on the ground, fingers digging into the sand. His breathing was raspy, and he looked about two seconds from having a heart attack.

Connie blinked in sympathy, walking away from her spot next to Lapis to stand next to him instead. Greg looked up as she approached, but didn’t really react other than that.

“Hey,” she greeted, sitting down beside him. “Are you… are you doing okay?”

The man took a deep breath, running a sandy hand through his hair. “...’M not top of my game right now, that’s for sure,” he murmured in reply. “I just… I knew gem stuff was dangerous, but I didn’t think he’d actually… It didn’t feel real, y’know? The fact that Steven kept going on those missions, claiming that they were really dangerous, but then he’d come back fine. I guess I got used to him coming back. I never thought… I never  _ imagined…” _ He let out a breath. “I shouldn’t’ve let him go, should I?”

Connie put a hand on his shoulder. “You had to,” she reminded him. “We have to cure the corrupted gems, and the only way to do that was to ask White for help. There was no way she’d listen to any of us except Steven.”

Greg swallowed, staring hard at the ground. “I just feel like I could have done something, you know? If I just didn’t let him go this one time, he’d be safe.”

“And he’d be unhappy, because the corrupted gems were no closer to being healed.” Connie squeezed his shoulder lightly, causing him to redirect his gaze back to her. “Listen, Mr. Universe, I get it. I was there. There was nothing you or I could have done.” She smiled coldly to herself. “If there was anything I could have done, I’d have done it, okay?” Her smile warmed into something more positive. “But, what’s done is done anyways. What’s important is focusing on how to free him now.”

Greg blinked at her for a moment, before taking a deep breath in. He frowned as he released that air again. “Yeah. Okay. I- that makes sense.” He shook his head, then moved to stand up. Connie stood with him, feeling a bit better that she had been a moment ago. “So, what’s the plan?”

“We don’t have one yet.” She frowned. “We need to come up with one, and fast. I am going to bring all the food and water I can, but we’re also going to need-“

“Connie?!” 

The young girl was cut off by a familiar voice. Looking up, she saw her mom and dad running towards her, one wearing a look of relief, the other of worry.

Dr. Maheswaran reached her first. “Oh, thank  _ goodness _ you’re okay!” She pulled Connie into a hug, who returned it a bit uncertainly, before the Doc shifted her grip to Connie's shoulders, looking into her eyes. “What happened? Are you hurt? Did it go well?”

Connie visibly cringed. “Not… exactly.”

Doug Maheswaran knelt down on her other side, bringing a hand up to her cheek. “You look shaken. What happened?”

“They had to come home early,” Greg supplied from behind the family. “It went wrong.”

The parents turned to look at him, both immediately noting the sadness in Greg’s eyes and the fact that they were missing a very important person. Dr. Maheswaran looked back at Connie first, her eyes creased with worry. “Steven?”

“He’s okay,” Connie said quickly. “Err, well, he’s  _ alive.” _

__ Doug cringed. “I don’t like the way you said that…”

“Alright everyone, gather ‘round!” Bismuth’s commanding voice cut through the crowd. “If we’re gonna rescue our friends, we gotta make a plan!”

All attention was drawn to her immediately. The grey gem was standing up on the stage, with Lapis and Peridot on either side, both sitting on the edge. Bismuth was standing confidently, poised to do whatever she had to. The crowd edged closer, each wanting to help in some way. Connie felt a hand squeeze her shoulder- her mom- in reassurance.

“What iz everything we know about zis ‘White Diamond’?” an older voice asked. Mayor Nanefua was standing very close to Bismuth, looking up at her hopefully. “Once we have all de facts, we can work towards a plan that puts dem all together.”

Bismuth thought for a moment. “She’s tall- not as tall as the Temple, but she would come up about maybe halfway? She stands in the same position all the time without stop, she can mind control other gems, and she refuses to listen to anyone.” Bismuth began T-posing to demonstrate, but only for a second before she dropped it again. “She can control that giant Diamond mech completely, because she has control over the other three Diamonds. That’s going to be our first obstacle; getting into that.”

“She can also use the possessed gems to talk with,” Lapis spoke up, shuddering. “They all share a… what’s the human word I’m looking for, hivemind? Something like that. She usually speaks with all of them at a time.”

“What about Steven?” Greg spoke up. “Are there any differences with him?”

The three gems on stage thought for a moment, but Connie was faster. “Yes, yes! There are!” All eyes turned to her. “From what I saw, Steven is the only one of them that’s still aware of what’s going on. But, he can’t react much. The most that I saw him do was… was cry and shudder.” She shook her head, clearing the memory of his tears flowing down his face, a face with a smile plastered unnaturally onto it, his eyes pleading with her to do something,  _ but there was nothing she could do- _ “I’m not sure if it’s because he’s half human, half Diamond, or both, but he was definitely present.”

Everyone’s mouths had gone slack. Greg looked absolutely horrified, while Bismuth and Peridot exchanged a look. She heard her mom give a soft, contemplative hum from behind her. 

“Well, that certainly changes a few things,” Bismuth murmured. “Alright, so we want to keep Steven as safe as possible, right? So I say we do everything we can to keep him out of the fight. No matter what.”

“But, wait,” Sadie spoke up. “If Steven is still aware while the other Gems aren’t, then maybe that just means White’s control is stretched too thin? Maybe she’s just having a harder time keeping a hold of him.”

“If that’s the case, then we rescue him first,” Connie announced without hesitation. “If there’s even the slightest chance that he can be free, I’m going to take it.”

The crowd spoke various agreements.

Bismuth nodded. “Sure, we can do that, after we figure out how to get to White in the first place.”

“If I may,” Peridot spoke up, coming to a stand, “White has control of all three Diamonds now, right? Well, if I were still a Homeworld-loyal gem, I would probably be absolutely disgusted that my Diamond was under White’s control.”

“So we ask the other Homeworld gems to join us?” Lapis connected, leaning forward to look at her barnie. 

“Precisely!” Peri adjusted her visor, taking on the air of a know-it-all. “That way, we have more numbers, making the rescue attempt MUCH easier.” She scanned the crowd. “Though, it will be difficult to announce our plan one voice at a time…”

Lapis stood up now, crossing her arms. “What are you suggesting?”

“Don’t laugh.” Peridot began wringing her hands together. “If we’re going to do this, then our voice needs to be bigger. We need more people joining together to really help spread the message! Plus, we’ll need to be able to keep our eyes open on all sides. So, what if… what if we brought some of the humans from Beach City with us?”

Everyone went silent. Connie began to think this over. It wasn’t a very  _ ideal _ plan- she had seen for herself that Homeworld was not built to house human life. But, Peridot did have a point; they needed numbers, and the four of them just weren’t enough. But were humans a good alternative?

_ Humans are the ONLY alternative, _ she thought to herself.

“I want to go.” Greg moved to walk up the steps to stand on the stage with the three gems. “I am not a fighter. I don’t know anything about Homeworld, or your society, or even basic gem stuff, but what I do know is that my son is up there. He’s hurting, and alone with… with  _ her.”  _ His eyes lit up with a determination Connie had never seen from him before. “I want to be there for him when you all free him. I can help spread the word, too.”

Quiet murmurs passed through the crowd, many faces looking up at him with surprise, and in some people, admiration. Connie herself felt her eyebrows raise, and her mom’s grip on her shoulder shift. She turned back to look at her, only to find her parents looking at each other, engaged in a silent conversation. They nodded to each other, then looked down at Connie. 

“We’re coming, too,” Dr. Maheswaran announced, looking up towards the gems. “I want to keep a close eye on Steven once he’s free and make sure he’s okay physically.”

“Plus, I can join the offense,” Doug supplied. “I’m only a private security guard, but I know a few things.” He grinned. “If nothing else, both of us can add our voices.”

Connie’s heart swelled, but worry seeped in nonetheless. “You guys know that gem stuff is…  _ wild, _ right?” She asked them. “This is going to be a bit more dangerous than stopping some teen from breaking into a mall.”

Doug nodded. “I’m well aware, Connie.” He knelt down to her level, placing his hand on her other shoulder. “I  _ want _ to do this. We both do. Whatever we’re about to walk into, we’ll deal with. Besides,” his grin shifted into something more playful, “I’d love to see my swash-buckler in action.”

The young teen smiled at that. She still wasn’t completely on-board with having her parents coming, since she knew what to expect, but it did feel nice, in its own way.

“Now, hold on,” Bismuth called out, holding her hands up. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. I mean, humans? On Homeworld? None of y’all have any decent experience fighting, and if the gems want to fight you, there’s only four of us.” She looked to Connie as she said this, who tensed. “We need to think this through, carefully.”

“They’re immune.” Lapis moved to stand in front of Bismuth, causing her to take a few steps back away from the edge of the stage. “Connie got hit with the beam as well, remember? But as far as I know, nothing happened to her. They’re  _ immune.” _ Her expression shifted into a hopeful one. “I think humans are how we can get close enough to White to try and save anyone.”

Connie ignored the way her parents let out small gasps, taking her own stand. “I agree! Nothing bad happened; it just felt really hot for a few seconds. That’s it! Oh, and I guess you get there really bad spots on your vision,” she added in a smaller voice, “but other than that? Nothing happened!”

Bismuth nodded. “If White controls any of the three of us, it’s game over. If all of us get possessed, then we’re done, and so is Steven and the others. But, if we have humans with us, the chances of success go up.” She grinned. “I like that idea.”

Lapis smiled, allowing herself to be truly hopeful for a moment. “Who else wants to go?”

Several voices rose from the crowd. The loudest was Ronaldo’s, but he was quickly quieted by- well, by everyone. Next to speak up was Sadie, claiming she could be both offense and a voice, and the Cool Kids were quick to agree. Jenny and Sour Cream agreed to come as well to lend their voices, though Buck offered to stay behind. Onion raised his hand to go, but was quickly silenced by both Vidalia and SC. Mrs. Miller also volunteered. 

Eight humans. Eight humans and three gems. Eleven individuals up against an entire empire, more specifically White Diamond herself, and all the brainwashing she’d inflicted, both on the bleached gems and the others just  _ living _ there under those laws for millennia.

They were going to need a few hours to get all the supplies (and see if eleven people could even fit in the blue Ruby-looking ship they got), but then? It was a matter of voice over fighting. Make the Homeworld gems see their cause.

After that? The Gems would bring Connie, Greg, and Priyanka up to White’s head, the six of them going for Steven. The gems would cover any combat they had to do to get to him, Connie included. The gem’s one mission was to not get hit by the beam; if even one of them is struck, then the odds of a successful rescue drop  _ fast. _

Was it possible to free Steven under these conditions? Who knows.

But every gem’s power has a range. They just had to get him out of range. Then, they would step back and let the Homeworld gems take action. White couldn’t possibly control all of them. 

They had hope. It was small, but it was there.

_ Just a few more hours. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha plan go brr
> 
> I WANT TO SEE THE HUMANS TAKE ACTION, PLEASE LET ME HAVE THIS-
> 
> Anyways. Thanks for reading! Chapter 6 is already being written! :D


	6. This is your daily reminder to drink water, kids.

There was no clear day/night cycle on Homeworld; the best Steven could do was listen to his internal clock, but even that had been thrown for a loop. He was tired, though, so no matter what time it was, he decided to try and go to sleep.

The cold floor wasn’t helping.

It had been a few hours at this point, at least- maybe more. Time dragged by. And with nothing left in this room but himself, all Steven could do was wonder what horrible things were happening to his family right now, and wallow in guilt over it.

He had hoped, just  _ maybe, _ he could go to sleep and reach home. He’d give his dad the biggest hug, tell him how much he loved him. He’d find Connie and tell her everything that had happened, and try to give her any tips on how to help him and his family to freedom. But, he just couldn’t fall asleep. 

The tower was high up, and any small tremor in the ground from the broken planet made it rock. It was subtle, but the creaking noises the materials made as they swayed back and forth were  _ terrifying. _ Random ships flew by sometimes, rocking the air with their engines. The big door had rattled once before, and that noise had been the loudest and most unexpected thing so far.

Conditions to fall asleep were terrible. Everything was terrible.

On top of all that, the effects of not eating or drinking for a while were really setting in. His stomach growled, and his tongue was dry as a desert. It hadn’t been this bad the last time when he was in here with Connie, but then again, they had been in there for at least a day together, then had a snack afterwards. That couldn’t possibly be good for the stomach, right?

So, with nothing left to do, he lied on his side and thought about White. He didn’t want to think about the gems anymore; whatever was going on was happening, and he couldn’t do anything about it. That was that. What he  _ could _ focus on was what to say to White and how to persuade her to help him out. 

He just had to appeal to her likes, right? Well, she liked herself, so maybe flattery would help out? Maybe the promise of more gems to add to the Gempire without wasting resources? But then, with that comes the problem of forcing the newly healed gems to serve Homeworld again, or kickstarting another rebellion. Neither option sounded all that great.

Before, he had suggested that he completely give himself over to Homeworld if she just listened to him, but that had been when he was desperate. Would he still be willing to agree to that? This sounded an awful lot like when he gave himself up to Homeworld and got taken away by Aquamarine. He had come back, and his relationship with Connie had taken a deep dive for a few weeks. He promised they’d do everything together, hadn’t he? 

But on the other hand, he didn’t care what happened to him anymore. So long as everyone else was safe. He’d gladly get stabbed to protect them, or anything else like that. Isn’t that what giving himself over to White would be? Sacrificing himself to save the corrupted gems, and his family?

_ Plus, _ a more selfish side of him spoke up,  _ if they try to rescue you, that wasn’t part of the plan. That would be their decision, not yours. You can’t be called a liar because they ‘stole’ you away from Homeworld, right? _

But, he still felt iffy about that one. He didn’t want to let his family down. 

A knocking on the door broke him out of his train of thought. He sat up immediately, facing the large door. The knock had been small, so he didn’t think it was any of the Diamonds (that wouldn’t make sense, anyways), but he felt tense all the same. Was White coming to control him again?

“Pink Lasagna?” A familiar nasally voice called through the door. “Are you… are you in there?”

The tension began to leave. “Y-yeah? I’m here,” he called out nervously. 

“Good, good. We wanted to ask you a few things, if you don’t mind,” Yellow Pearl continued. “I know it’s not our place, but you were usually so lenient with things like this. Besides, it’s important.”

Standing, Steven walked closer to the door, placing a hand against it. “Uhh, sure? What is it?”

The other side went quiet for a moment, before a much softer voice spoke up, muffled through the door; “do you know whatever happened to Blue and Yellow Diamond?”

“They’ve been missing for quite some time now,” Yellow Pearl spoke again. “We’re getting worried. We don’t typically leave our Diamond’s sides for very long.”

Steven nodded, then remembered they couldn’t see him do that. “Yeah, I know what happened to them,” he replied softly. “White Diamond… she took control over them. They’re not themselves right now.”

“What do you mean?” Blue Pearl asked. “Are they alright?”

“No.” Steven turned around, leaning his back against the door and sliding down. “White Diamond is mind-controlling them. They’re doing whatever she says, and they have no say in it at all. They’re stuck like that until White decides to let them go, whenever that will be.”

There was silence. It dragged on a little longer than Steven would have liked, to the point where he began to wonder if the two pearls had walked away. But then, Yellow Pearl cleared her throat.

“Well, if… if that’s what White Diamond wants…?” She sounded confused.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Steven replied, getting an idea. He turned again so he was half-facing the door, twisting his body to better project his voice to them. “They didn’t deserve to be taken over like that. They were miserable, and were just asking White to listen to them so they could make Homeworld better. And White took away their free will because of that.”

There were gasps. “WELL,” Yellow Pearl almost growled. “If my Diamond had a problem with anything, she would fix it herself! She is perfect, and has the power to do what she wants!”

Steven cringed. “No no, that’s not it at all,” he told her. “Yellow was upset that she does everything just the way White wants her to, and never gets thanked or appreciated for it. She’s under a lot of pressure, and wants it to stop. And for Blue, she’s sad all the time, and she said she can’t keep enforcing the rules when everyone is miserable.” He turned fully to the door now. “They just wanted things to be better, but White wouldn’t let them talk to her. She just took over!”

Both pearls were silent again, mulling this information over.

“...I can see that,” Blue Pearl said softly. “My Diamond has been very upset the past few thousand years, and she’s become colder and more closed-off because of it. I’ve tried to make her happy by serving her well, but nothing has worked.”

“My Diamond has had a darker ring around her eyes recently,” Yellow Pearl added. “More hesitant to do things… I can’t believe I never noticed before.”

“No one did.” Steven leaned forward so that his forehead was resting on the door. “But they’re speaking up about it now, and that’s what matters. Please, I want to help them. I wanna help  _ all _ of them, and you, too. But I can’t do it alone. White took control of me, too, but then locked me up in here instead.”

“Oh, stars,  _ no,” _ Yellow Pearl gasped. “We are not setting you free! I’m sorry, Pink Lasagne, but do you know what would happen if we went against orders like that? We’re pushing it already as it is!”

“That’s not what I’m saying. Just… tell Homeworld what happened. Please. I’m sure other gems will want to help their Diamonds out, too, right? After all, White can’t run Homeworld by herself! That would be ridiculous!”

“...We’ll think about it,” Blue Pearl murmured.

Steven let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“Now, while we’re up here,” Yellow Pearl announced, “we have to serve you to not draw suspicion to ourselves. Is there anything you’d like us to do?”

His heart soared with hope. “I need you to get me food and water,” he said quickly. “Please, I’ll get really sick if I don’t get that  _ soon.” _

“Sick?” Yellow Pearl asked. “What is sick?”

“Umm, it’s like…” Steven thought for a moment. “It’s when you feel really bad physically. Um, most gems don’t get sick. I guess it’s like getting cracked?” He shuddered at the thought, reminded again of his family. “It can hurt really bad and you can’t do anything until you’re healed.”

“My word!” Yellow Pearl sounded exasperated. “Where can we find this, ‘foodanwater’?”

The teen thought about the question himself. He couldn’t send them to Earth- that was too far away- so was there a better option? “Oh!” Steven snapped his fingers. “There is a human zoo that has all the food and water I could need. Go there and ask for enough for… a lot of meals?” He scratched at his head. “I-I don’t know for sure how much I’ll need. You guys can keep coming back, right?”

“Yes,” Blue Pearl said. “We can.”

“Great! So maybe… two days worth of food? No, three days! That way, it’ll still be fresh and I’ll have enough to last a while!”

“We’ll get right on that, Pink Lasagne!” There were light footsteps leaving the area. “Talk to you again soon!”

“Bye!” Steven waved after them, remembering again that they couldn’t actually see him, and lowered his hand awkwardly. He slumped against the door in relief. The food would take a while to get here, no doubt, but he’d be okay. 

Now he could focus on his own counter plan in peace, knowing that he had more time.


	7. And Now; For Our Manditory Training Montage to the Tune of "Eye of the Tiger"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am having fun coming up with titles, lemme tell ya that.

Things were going well. The eight humans who were going to make the journey to Homeworld were helping gather their own supplies, each human bringing enough food and water to last a week on their own. No one knew how long they’d be out there for, and so making sure hunger and dehydration of all things didn’t do them in was important. Dr. Maheswaran brought as much medical supplies as she could, just in case, and Connie and Greg focused on gathering extra rations for Steven when they found him. 

Turns out, all eleven of them could, in fact, fit in the blue ship. There was plenty of extra room as well- the ship was bigger than it appeared, it seemed. Peridot busied herself with calculating exactly how the extra weight would affect space travel (though it seemed to be not a whole lot), and she and Lapis began optimizing the inside of the ship to their liking. Before anyone knew it, a bright green star had been painted on the inside of the ship, hovering on top of the door.

Bismuth had taken to weapons duty, hoping to find or make as many as she could. She had quite a few in her forge already, and making them turned out to be a quick task (she could make an entire sword in less than two minutes!). She rapidly began making sure every human had a sword, or another weapon that suited them better, they were part of the offense of not. Defensive measures were extremely important, especially where they were going. She even wound up creating some pieces of armor, though she couldn’t take the time to properly measure everything. Just small pieces here and there, mostly on the back and chest. 

Doug had his katana-esk sword in hand now, and was waving it around uncertainty. He cast a wary look at it, realization hitting for the first time on just what they were getting into. He swung it like a baseball bat, hoisting it over his shoulders before whipping it around as fast as he could.

“Dad, Dad, wait,” Connie walked up to him, placing her own hands on his own that held the hilt. “That’s not how you swing a sword.”

Doug paused, brightening up a bit. “Okay.” He stood up straighter, relaxing his pose. “Would you wanna show me how to swing it properly?”

Connie gave a curt nod. “Well, first off, you have to have a proper stance. Watching where you put your weight is really important, or else you could be thrown off-balance and fall over. You want to keep your stance wide.” She demonstrated, putting her feet in the proper place just as Pearl had shown her. 

Doug watched her intently, trying to copy her. “Like this?” He held his sword out, and leaned into the pose like he was doing yoga or something.

Connie giggled. “No no, you’re leaning too far forward. Here, let me help.”

She began lightly pushing at Doug’s chest and midsection, guiding him into a proper stance. At the end, he shifted a bit, testing it out, and practiced getting in and out of it, trying to memorize it as much as possible. 

“Good!” Connie smiled wide with pride. “You got this!”

Doug grinned back.

By now, a couple of the other humans who were going on this mission had stopped to watch. Jenny and Sour Cream had started mimicking what they saw, and tried to get into a proper position. Connie’s pride swelled. They could do this.

She turned to the gathered crowd. “Alright everyone, we got a lot of training to cover and not a lot of time to do it! Follow me.” She reached out and grabbed a stick, seeing as she did not yet have a sword of her own. “Everything begins with your stance. And remember what we’re fighting for.  _ You do it for him, and you would do it again. You do it for them, that is to say, you’ll do it for him.” _

The gathered humans that hadn’t yet started to mimic her now dropped into a position. Connie walked among them, correcting them where she had to.  _ “Keep your stance wide. Keep your body lowered.” _ The humans all checked themselves, lowering and adjusting as needed.  _ “As you’re moving forwards, balance is the key.” _

She paired them up, sword against sticks or other long materials, and had them shuffle, dancing on the tips of their toes. She remembered doing this with Pearl oh-so long ago, remembering every word to the song by heart. Greg with Barb, Jenny with SC, Priyanka with Doug, and Connie with Sadie. “ _ Right foot, left foot. Now go even faster. And as you’re moving backwards, keep your eyes on me.” _

Greg stumbled a bit, but Barb was quick to steady him again. The uncertain look on his face drove a pang of sadness into Connie’s heart. He didn’t want to have to fight, and he shouldn’t have to. But when she asked him about staying behind, his frown turned back into that rare look of determination again, and he pushed himself harder. Connie could understand.

_ For Steven. _

They had only been practicing for about an hour when suddenly, an engine roar cut through the air. The assembled humans and gems alike gasped as they watched a ship lower itself onto the sand, though Connie was quick to relax, fear turning to excitement very quickly.

“Everyone, it’s okay,” she called out. “That ship isn’t going to hurt us!”

The door opened, sliding upward, revealing Lars Barriga and the Off-Colors. Pride showed on his face, while his crew wore looks of amazement and awe. 

“We finally made it- Earth!” Rhodonite clapped her hands together. “No more running, no more  _ hiding, _ no more Diamond Authority!” 

“I’m looking forward to being able to relax,” one of the Rutile twins said.

“Relaxing would be very nice,” said the other. 

The group paused at this, looking out and surveying the crowd. They noted the large amount of weapons, and the fact that it looked like they may have interrupted a training session. They looked to each other for a moment, nervous.

“Uhh…” Lars spoke up, taking a step forward. “Hello, everyone?”

“Lars?!”

His eyes lit up. “Sadie?!”

The young rockstar in question burst out of the crowd. She ran forward, stopping a few paces away. “It’s really you…”

Lars grinned, and walked the rest of the way forward, coming to a stop in front of her. “I, ahh... “

Padparadscha gasped. “Lars isn’t going to know what to say!”

One of the Off-Colors shushed her. “Give him a moment,” she scolded.

“So, you’re a space pirate?” Sadie asked, taking him in. Her eyes lingered on the cape.

“You’re a rockstar!” Lars looked amazed. “Though, you look like you’re… in the middle of something?”

Sadie laughed nervously. “Heh, yeah. We’re just, ahh, about to head off to Homeworld ourselves, actually.”

“What?” Lars’ eyes widened. “Why on Earth would you want to go to  _ Homeworld? _ There’s much cooler vaca destinations out there.”

Sadie lifted her new spear a little, drawing attention to it. “It’s not about that.”

Realization dawned on the pink teen. “You’re going to fight?” He frowned. “That’s a terrible idea.”

“Oh, we’re aware,” Barb Miller spoke up, grinning. “Terrible for those Homeworld gems who took the Crystal Gems prisoner!”

Lars wound up taking a step back in shock. “They what?!” He looked back at his crew for a moment, silently asking what he should do here, but none of them held an answer. Turning back to Sadie and the train-ees, he furrowed his brows. “What happened?”

Connie stepped forward. “White Diamond mind controlled Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and Steven. They’re still on Homeworld, in her head. She also has control over Yellow and Blue Diamond.”

“But she can’t control humans,” Barb spoke up again with pride. “So we’re gonna be the gems’ secret weapons!”

“Hmm.” Snapping back into captain mode, Lars mulled this over. “You’re gonna need someone who was on Homeworld for a while on your side. I know my way around, and I can get you a lot of places. Plus, the Off-Colors practically have the Kindergartens and all secret routes memorized.” He turned back to them. “I’m not going to force you to go back if you don’t want to, but we could really use your guy’s help.”

The Off-Colors cringed at the thought, but after a moment of thinking it over, the Rutile Twins stepped forward. “We can help you get around,” the left said. 

“We know pretty much everything there is to know,” the right chimed in.

Lars smiled with pride. “Then let’s jump to it.”

Connie leaped into teacher mode again, and paired Lars with the Twins. She continued to go against Sadie, making a note to keep the two love birds apart in case they decided to goof off or something. 

She was about to move on to basic defense and blocking when she heard Bismuth call her name. The grey gem approached, handing her a new sword. It wasn’t as good as her other one- she still wanted that one back- but this one would definitely work for now. She smiled up at Bismuth happily. “Thanks!”

Bismuth grinned and winked. “So, that just leaves two more weapons to go then, huh?”

“Actually,” She looked to Lars and the Twins, who were learning fast. “We need four.”

Bismuth blinked in surprise. “Well, the more the merrier!” She practically danced up to them, introducing herself and offering to make weapons for the both of them. Lars put in an order for a sword, while the Rutile Twins decided to go for a sword and a shield. Bismuth nodded, then headed back out to the Forge.

Thirteen people, and there was still extra space in that clunky ship. Lapis and Peridot introduced themselves warmly as well, before they ran off to continue preparations in the ship itself.

This was going very well.

* * *

Steven was pacing back and forth in the tower. He had come up with a couple more plans, but each one had some very obvious and frightening flaws. Like, if he just walked in appealing to White’s flattery, she might just become more sure of herself and stop listening. If Steven practiced and accounted for everything she might say in response, he’d be there for hours and it might not even pay off. Plus, if she managed to mind control him before he could speak with her, chances of success drop drastically. 

The best plan he’d worked out so far was, honestly, just giving himself over. But he didn’t want to do that. Just imagining the look of betrayal on Connie’s face was enough to make his heart stop for a second. He just couldn’t do it again. Could he? 

He needed advice. He needed Garnet here, so she could help predict the best path. He needed someone to stand up to him and forcefully tell him  _ No, absolutely not, that is a horrible idea!  _ Otherwise, he was sure he was about to go through with it…

“We’re  _ baaaaaack, _ Pink Lasagne!” Yellow Pearl called, knocking on the door rhythmically. “We have the ‘foodanwater’ you requested!”

“Oh, sweet!” His stomach gave a rumble just thinking about it. “Thank you!”

“Yes, well,” Yellow Pearl cleared her throat. “You’re still not allowed to leave, mind you, so I need to ask you to move as far away from the door as you can, please.”

Steven obliged, retreating to stand just under the window. “I’m far away,” he called. “You can open the door now.”

There were a few taps, and the black doors slid open, revealing the two pearls. They held nothing visible, but they quickly entered the room and began pulling stuff from out of their gems. The first things out were some of the fruits from the Zoo, differentiating in different hues including blue, purple, red, and green. The food landed on the ground (Steven would have cringed a bit if he weren’t so hungry at the moment), tumbling around until there was a puddle of the stuff. 

“They gave us enough for four days,” Yellow Pearl said. “When Holly Blue Agate heard about what had happened to you, she insisted we take as much as we could.”

Steven blinked in surprise. “Holly sent me all this?”

“She wanted us to ask you about Blue Diamond,” Blue Pearl spoke softly. “She’s very worried.”

That made sense. Steven wasn’t sure why he was so surprised that she would be upset at the knowledge that Blue was no longer herself. He looked at the pile of food again, wondering what she must be thinking at this moment.

“Wait,” he looked up at the pearls. “What about the water?”

“We asked, and Holly said that the water is in the food,” Yellow Pearl answered. “You should have everything you need.”

Relief washed over him in a wave. “Thank you. Tell Holly I said thanks to her, too.”

“We’ll be sure to do that, Pink Lasagne.” Yellow Pearl grinned at the praise.

Steven giggled. “My name is Steven, silly.”

“Pink Steven.”

“Steven.”

“Steven Diamond?”

Blue Pearl placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Say it like ‘hello, Steven,’ or ‘Steven is right there,’ okay?”

Yellow Pearl blinked. “Steven.”

The kid in question smiled wide. “Yep, that’s me!”

She frowned a bit, but then it turned into a small smile. “Steven.” She placed a hand on her gem. “I like that.”

He felt his insides warm.

After the pearls had both left, the teen went for the fruits. He ate two; a blue one and a green one. They tasted exactly the same, but good. They tasted something like apples, but a bit more sweet than that. He could get used to them; they almost tasted like candy!

Rehydrated and fed, Steven began to pace again, going over his options. A new factor had come into the game; if Holly was upset, surely other gems would be, too. He just needed a way to spread the news without getting the pearls in trouble. 

_ Rumors, _ his mind supplied.  _ Start spreading rumors. _

Holly was a chatterbox, so she must surely already be doing her part in that plan. The pearls could be very social when they wanted to be- Yellow Pearl especially- so they might already be spreading the news to other pearls and lower-class gems. Then, the word would only trickle upward from there.

Maybe he didn’t have to do anything. He felt himself relax at the thought. Maybe he could let Homeworld do this for him. 

Now all he had to focus on was his family, and how he could help them.

His first question for White would regard their fates.

He could act from there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ultron's voice: "This is going _very_ well...


	8. I'd Rather Be...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't come up with a funny chapter title for this one.
> 
> Um.
> 
> Yeah.
> 
> Enjoy?

Steven laid down on his side, staring at the wall absentmindedly. It had been about an hour since the pearls had left, and he was finally feeling somewhat at peace. Maybe he could even… try to sleep? The idea had seemed so far-fetched before, but now, with a full belly and a reassured head, he figured his chances at catching a wink were as good as they were ever going to get right now. So, he shut his eyes and tried to drift off.

At first, he wasn’t entirely sure if he was asleep or not. Everything was still dark, just barely lit behind his eyelids, but  _ when he moved to shift positions, something felt off. Eyes shooting open, he realized with relief that he was in that psychic ghost-type situation again. He grinned; now, he could finally talk to Connie and his Dad, and everyone back home! They should have made it by now, he figured, so as long as he didn’t end up in a watermelon again, he should be okay.  _

_ Thinking about his dad and Connie prompted the Earth to glow brightly off in the horizon, just as it had the first time he tried this. He immediately shot for it, then started to take the time to slow down. That way, he should have at least  _ **_some_ ** _ control over where he landed, right?  _

_ This seemed to pay off, as he landed where he could only guess was Beach City. He couldn’t see his surroundings; he could only see the tall statues of his friends and family. Connie and Sadie were standing near each other, closest to where Steven was now, and he decided to go there first.  _

_ He jumped up, landing on Connie’s head. She held a sword in her hands, not the one he remembered from before, but a simpler one. She was doing a shuffle, eyes furrowed in determination, as Pearl’s song from so long ago rang through the air while Connie remembered it. _

_ “Keep your stance wide, _

_ “Keep your body lowered, _

_ “As you’re moving forward _

_ “Balance is the key.” _

_ He was about to announce his arrival to his friend when suddenly a deeper, richer voice cut through his own mind. The condescension of it sent involuntary shivers down his spine.  _

_ “Now, Starlight,” the voice mocked. “What are you doing?” _

Steven was torn from his dream, sitting up back in the prison tower immediately. In front of him stood White’s Pearl, her smile as wide and as fake as ever. Her hands were still held out to the sides, and the teen cringed at the sight, instantly reminded of how torturous standing like that was.

“Come now, it’s time to come see me again.” White Pearl’s eye started to glow, indicating she was about to shoot the mind control beam again.

On instinct, Steven summoned his shield. It appeared just as the laser-like power went off, hitting the defensive weapon and bouncing off of it. It shot up into the wall, where it was absorbed, the light fragmenting into pieces.

White Pearl and Steven exchanged surprised looks, before they both grew serious again. Steven’s “grip” on his weapon tightened, arm tensing up. He could fight back. He wouldn’t go down without a fight.

The faintest hint of a scowl crossed the bleached pearl’s face. “Now, Pink, don’t be that way,” she cooed. “Put your shield away and come back where you belong.”

The eye beam fired again. Steven crouched down a bit, lowering so more of him fit behind the small, circular disk. The light reflected again, bouncing off and hitting the wall, where it was stopped dead in its tracks.

Heart beating fast now, Steven knew that if he got caught now, there would be no turning back, and he would be in  _ deep _ trouble. But, he held strong; he was not going to just lie down and let White control him. Literally.

“Pink Diamond,” White practically growled, “Lower your shield!”

Steven stood his ground, giving the pearl a determined look.

“I said,” the light charged again, “DROP YOUR WEAPON!”

The light hit. Steven, thinking fast, adjusted the shield. The beam, which was veering off to his left, began to shift, moving right. He rotated it quickly, and the beam wound up hitting the pearl instead.

She screamed in White’s voice, and for a moment, Steven wondered if he’d seriously hurt her. The beam shot up and away as the pearl’s head spun, facing upwards as she cried out. Then, she poofed. The explosion was a grey color, but it faded into a more soft pink towards the end of the lightshow. In the center of it floated a small, pink-ish white gem, the glossy surface softly reflecting the light streaming through the window. 

_ The lighting changed. He was standing, watching in horror as Pearl looked down at the tip of the sword that was currently protruding from her chest. She looked up in a hurry, and upon seeing the look of pure terror in his eyes, held her hands up reassuringly. “Wh-whoopsy-daisy!” she yelled out, over-correcting her pained tone. “Steven, it’s okay! I’m gonna be just-” _

Moving fast, Steven caught it before it hit the ground.

Everything went still. Time froze. The tower stopped rocking. The light sounds from outside faded away. He just poofed White’s pearl. She was poofed. Did White still have control over her? Would she reform after the way she was poofed? Did she need to be healed? Did he just cause permanent damage? Why did the beam poof her? What else was that thing capable of??

Quickly, Steven licked his shaking hand and touched it to the pearl’s surface. It sparkled a bit, indicating that his powers were working, but nothing changed. 

Sighing, he put the pearl down a little ways away and retreated to the corner of his cell. 

White wanted him to go back to her head, right? There was no way she’d let him stay in here after  _ that. _ Was she taking more time to decide his punishment? 

Where was she?

She had so many puppets now; Yellow and Blue Diamond, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and up until a few seconds ago her own pearl. She could be sending any of them to take him away, but she wasn’t.

Did it just take a second?

He shuddered, burying his head in his arms.

He wanted to go home.

* * *

It was a few more moments before the pearl started to glow. Steven heard the familiar humming noise and looked up, summoning his shield again on instinct as he watched it float up. It did not cycle through forms like reforming gems usually do (did she only have the one form?), and she landed on the ground gracefully, reminding Steven of his own Pearl back in White’s head. 

The reminder was almost physically painful.

The gem reformed, and Steven noted immediately that her overall look was exactly the same as before, except now, she was pink in hue instead of various greys. The swirls of her hair bounced a bit as she landed on her feet, standing poised and elegant. 

She opened her one eye, looking to him curiously. She saw his shield out, right eye widening, before she reached up to run a hand over the crack in her left.

“What…” she curled in on herself a bit. “What happened?”

Steven blinked at her, then looked to his own shield. Steeling himself, he dismissed it, moving to stand up. He held his hands up, trying to look as non-threatening as he could. “Um, hello…?” he greeted. He felt a driblet of sweat begin to slide down his forehead.

The pearl directed her gaze to him again. “...Hello there,” she returned uncertainly.

_ She sounds different, _ Steven realized. He cleared his throat, trying to bite back some of the nervousness he felt. “I… um… I’m Steven.” He held out a hand. “What’s your name?”

“Ah…” she looked at his hand warily. “I’m Pearl P01. What kind of gem are you?”

The kid rubbed at the back of his neck. “I’m, um, I have Pink Diamond’s gemstone,” he admitted. “But I’m not her! I’m her son.”

The pearl’s eyebrows raised in shock. “Pink Diamond?” She reached up to feel at her eye again, expression tensing. “That’s… she’s... “ she shook her head. “How long was I out for?”

“I don’t know.” Steven wrung his hands together. “I only just found out about you a few days ago.”

She hummed at this, looking around. “The Prison Tower?” She chuckled hollowly to herself. “Stars, what did you do this time?”

His heart began to sink. “I got put under White’s control, too.” Her gaze snapped back to him in an instant. “But, she couldn’t completely control me, and I talked back to her? So, um. Yeah.”  
The pearl blinked, then her lips curved upwards into a sad smile. “That sounds like something you’d do.” She placed a hand on the side of her face, half covering the crack. “Talking back to White Diamond? Only you were ever silly enough to try something like that.”

Steven swallowed though the lump in his throat didn’t quite go away. “I’m not Pink Diamond,” he murmured. “I’m Steven. I’m her son.” he sighed dejectedly, knowing how pointless this was. “Please don’t call me Pink…”

The pearl took a few steps closer, coming to stand in front of him. “Oh, I apologise,” she said quickly. “I didn’t realize that you were… upset. I’ll try to use the term ‘Steven’ from now on, okay?”

Steven’s gaze snapped back to her in an instant. “R-really?!” He couldn’t stop the smile from creeping onto his face. At the pearl’s nod, he gave a relieved laugh. “I- wow! No one on Homeworld has just… accepted my name before! Well, except the Off-Colors, but I don’t really think of them as Homeworld gems anyways.”

The pearl looked at the ground, smiling fondly at a memory. “Yes, I quite know that feeling. A lot of the things you- Pink did, the others didn’t really… agree with.”

He hummed in thought at this. Of course, he knew that- Pink was always so miserable here on Homeworld, and was much happier on Earth. That was a fact. But somehow, hearing about this other side to his mom, the sadder side, was always a much different experience than hearing about everything else. She just wanted to be happy- with herself, with her home, with the other Diamonds…

“If you don’t mind me asking,” the pearl spoke again, nervously wringing her hands together, “how did I get here? Last thing I remember, I was in the palace with Pink…”

Steven shook his head. “I’m not sure what happened. You were under White’s control when I first saw you. You’re here because she… she was controlling you, and was using you to come and get me. In fact,” he looked around the room, as if she were watching him right now, “she might be sending someone else to come get me at any minute. She wants to put me under her control again…”

“That’s awful!” the pearl gasped. “I’m so sorry she’s doing that to you… she never did that with Pink.”

The kid groaned. “Thanks. I just… I wish she would listen. If she would just listen to me, then everything would be-”

He was cut off as the sound of a door opening caught his attention. He spun around quickly, watching as it slid open, revealing a bleached Blue Diamond on the other side. Her expression sent chills down Steven’s spine.

“Starlight,” Blue spoke in White’s voice, “you have made a  _ grave mistake.” _

“Go,” Steven breathed under his breath. There was no way he’d be able to pull off a stunt like that again, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to try, either. His punishment was sure to be bad enough as it was. He turned to the pink pearl, saying louder, “go! You need to get out of here before she takes you again!”

Her eye widened. “Wh-what? I can’t just disobey-”

Blue Diamond was now entering the room, one of her hands reaching down to pick Steven up, it looked like. His pupils shrunk in response. He ran to the pearl, lightly shoving her towards the door. “JUST GO! Tell everyone what happened! I don’t think Homeworld knows!”

She struggled lightly against him, mostly trying to get her feet under her again. “B-b-but I-”

“Find Yellow and Blue’s pearls, they can tell you more!” Steven gave a final shove just as Blue’s hand closed around him. Her grip was tight, almost knocking the wind out of him. He cried out in alarm, wriggling to try and get his arms free again, kicking on reflex. But, Blue’s grip only tightened slightly in response. “RUN!”

Not needing another warning, the pink pearl dashed for the door, dodging around Blue’s dress and only looking back enough to make sure she wasn’t about to be mind-controlled again. She disappeared around a corridor, and was now out of sight.

Steven fought himself hard to try not to struggle. It was hard enough to breathe as it was, and squirming might just make his punishment worse. He had no idea  _ how _ it might get worse, but somehow, it always seemed to be able to. Everything could  _ always  _ get worse.

Blue looked at him almost fondly for a second, before her expression turned to a smiling neutral again. “Pink, Pink, Pink, you knew this was coming the moment you pulled that shield out,” White chided. “Poofing your old pearl just to get a few more minutes to yourself? That was a bit selfish, don’t you think?”

He might have been imagining it, but Steven could swear he caught a hint of malice lacing her tone.

“In any case, it’s time to come back to me now.” A white sphere appeared around them, almost not fitting in the hallway, and began to transport the two of them back to White’s head.

Steven concentrated on his breathing. If he could just  _ breathe, _ then maybe things would work out. At the very least, he’d  _ live _ to get to see things work out. Maybe. After this, he wasn’t sure anymore.

“Talking back is not something I take lightly,” White announced, that hint of anger still there. “Then, you pull out your shield? Poof your pearl? Use my own powers against me? And on top of all of that, you disobeyed your punishment and began talking to her.” Blue’s grey eyes met his, and the coldness he found there was striking. “To say I’m displeased would far be an understatement.”

The bubble vanished, and they were back in White Diamond’s ship. Steven looked up at her, the real White, and felt his heart skip a beat in fear. The look she was giving him was  _ definitely _ lined with more angry lines than before, and the smile felt far more forced.

Steven swallowed. “i-I’m sorry,” he stuttered. “I just wanted-”

“You should be thankful that I am not going to do anything to you just yet,” White nearly growled. “All I am going to do is spread my light to you once again. After a few millennia, I  _ might _ let you go. Then, the rest of your punishment will begin.”

The kid looked anywhere except White. He looked to Yellow, then the floor, then to Blue Diamond, then her gem, then Yellow’s gem, then her face, then the floor again. He could see the raised platform White stood on, as well as-

Wait.

“Where are-” he fought down the panic rising from his chest. “Where is everybody else?! What did you  _ do _ to them?!”

“They are getting what they deserve,” White replied curtly, obviously prepared for this question. “The pearl is to be placed under the careful watch of one of my morganites, the sapphire and the ruby are to be rejuvenated and separated, and the defective amethyst shall be broken. That way, we can prevent anything like this from happening again.”

“She… sh-she…” His breathing picked up, pressing against Blue’s fingers. “You’re going to  _ shatter _ her?!”

“It’s what they all deserved,” White continued. 

“Why?!” Steven raised his voice, consequences be damned. “Why would you- she didn’t do anything wrong!”

“She was wrong the moment she came out off-color,” White shot back, nearly dropping the facade. “But, she also talked back to me. Once I released her and we discussed her punishment, she had quite the attitude! It was only fair.”

Steven’s blood ran cold. Shattered. Amethyst was about to be shattered. He felt himself shake even more than he had been already. “Please, please no,” he called out. “I’ll do anything, just please, don’t hurt her! Don’t hurt any of them,  _ please!” _ Tears welled in his eyes. “Nobody deserves to be shattered for being different. Please let her go, or at the very least, don’t hurt her! I’ll do anything!”

White hummed, tapping her chin. Yellow followed the motion, as did Blue (but with the other hand that wasn’t holding Steven hostage). “Anything?”

He paused for a moment. He was back on Aquamarine’s ship, about to turn himself in. He knew it then, and he knew it now.

_ I’d do anything for my friends. It doesn’t matter what happens to me, as long as they are safe. _

Shaking harder now, trying to push Connie’s shocked and furious face from his mind, Steven took a deep breath in. “Yes,” he called across the room. “Anything.”

White’s smile widened into something more malicious. “Then you will accept your punishment without complaint. You will listen when I tell you to do something. And, once this is over, you are to stay here on Homeworld. No more colonies for you, no more Earth.” Her smile softened into that fond look again. “Be the Diamond you were always meant to be.”

He swallowed. 

_ You’re wrong! Steven, get down here! _

There was no turning back. 

_ I’m gonna kick your butt, if you don’t get down here right now! _

He was probably never going to see them again.

_ No, don’t you dare!  _

But, that was okay.

_ No, STOP! _

As long as they were okay,

_ STEVEN!! _

It didn’t matter what happened to him.

Taking a deep breath, Steven met White’s eyes. “I accept.”

He almost didn’t register the events after that. Blue set him down. The beam hit him again. He was encased, then appeared again at White’s feet. He smiled a smile that wasn’t his.

“Thank you, Starlight,” he and White said together. “I will rejuvenate the amethyst instead, and place her in a unit with other amethysts. She will likely serve at your little human enclosure! Doesn’t that sound lovely?”

Steven barely noticed that she’d said anything at all, and his relief was limited.

_ She’s safe. Amethyst is safe. _

_ Everyone is safe. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Free...  
>  Free...  
> Free..._


	9. There's a Diamond Loose in a Kindergarten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's how I like to look at it, and this is just me. This gem having this much power, it's like there's a Diamond loose in a Kindergarten. It's like there's a Diamond loose in a Kindergarten. It's never happened before! No one knows what the Diamond's gonna do next, least of all the Diamond! She's never _been_ in a Kindergarten before; she's just as confused as you! 
> 
> \- Pink Pearl, probably

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is based off of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhkZMxgPxXU
> 
> ((If you haven't watched this, you should lol))

The hallways of the Homeworld palace were… surprisingly empty. The wall gems and aesthetic gems were still there, of course- they were forbidden from moving- but the busy gems of previous times were nowhere to be found. Was this an Era 2 thing? 

Everything was silent.

Then, lightly, the pitter-patter of running feet could be heard echoing down hallways, leading to the arrival of Pink Diamond’s old pearl. She rushed in, searching frantically for anyone. Where had everyone gone? It was weird- it was  _ creepy. _

“Hello? Is anybody here?” Pink Pearl shouted out, hoping beyond all hopes that someone could hear her. “Hello? Please, I have important information regarding the Diamonds!” Her voice bounced away from her, carrying down hallways until she couldn’t hear it anymore.

She kept on running, shouting, until she reached the throne room. Here, she had to slow down, for she could see  _ many _ gems, though most were elite- morganites, demantoids, pyropes, garnets, emeralds, and many more of that caliber. Her eye frantically searched for a familiar face. There had to be someone…

_ There! _ Up near the thrones themselves stood Yellow and Blue Pearl. She smiled to herself in relief, and dashed up to them.

“Y01! B01!” she called up to them. “There you are!”

Both pearl’s heads turned in her direction, before they both stiffened. Y01- Yellow Pearl- blinked frantically, while Blue Pearl- B01- took a step backwards.

“P01?!” Yellow Pearl shouted. She broke the rules for a moment, moving from her position by Yellow’s throne to run to her old friend. “How are you-? It’s really you!” The yellow gem grasped the pink’s hands in her own. “White had you under her control for so long, I thought I’d never get to speak with you again!”

Pink Pearl giggled, blushing lightly in embarrassment. “Oh, yes. Sorry! I… don’t really remember much about the experience.”

Blue Pearl had since approached, and although her eyes were hidden by her hair, Pink Pearl could read her body language well enough to know her eyes were wide. “How did you escape?”

“Oh, Steven helped me.” She cringed a bit, though the smile stayed on her face. “She was in the Prison Tower, and she was able to free me somehow. Although,” she put a hand to her cheek, “I’m not entirely sure how she did it.”

Yellow Pearl nodded. “We just saw her not that long ago. She requested ‘foodanwater’ from that human zoo she- err, Pink- had built a few thousand years ago. She was so thankful to have it.” She gave a chuckle. “I can’t imagine why, though! Although, she did explain that not having ‘foodanwater’ would result in cracking her gem, somehow?” She shook her head fondly. “You should have seen the look on her face when we gave her the stuff. She was so happy.”

Pink Pearl smiled lightly at the memory, but then became serious again. She had a mission. Pink- or at least, her son??- had given her a mission, and it was an important one. “Y01, B01, I need to talk to you. I know where your Diamonds are.”

The two pearls looked at each other sadly. “We know where they are, too,” Blue Pearl said. 

“Then you know we need to do something about it,” Pink Pearl stated. “We can’t let them just-”

_ “Stars, NO,” _ Yellow Pearl cried out. “We can’t just tell the other gems! Do you realize how disastrous that would be? First, us speaking out when we’re not allowed to. Then, if they listen, causing a scene! What would White say?” She shook her head. “I want my Diamond back as much as the next gem, but we can’t just announce it to Homeworld. The other gems would freak out.”

“That’s why we  _ have  _ to.” Pink Pearl looked to Blue Pearl, who had turned her gaze back to the assembled crowd. “B01?”

“...All of these gems have gathered here on their own,” the blue gem spoke softly. “They’re all waiting for word on their Diamond. If we don’t tell them, they’ll soon figure it out themselves or they’ll start to tear Homeworld apart trying.” She took a deep breath, looking to Pink Pearl fondly. “We have Steven on our side, right? That should be enough to save us from trouble. And, if…” She trailed off, noticing the wince from her pink counterpart. “...She  _ is _ on our side, right?”

Pink Pearl shook her head. “Not anymore, I think,” she murmured. “The reason I’m out of the Tower is because White sent Blue to retrieve her, and took her back to her head. By now, Steven has been placed back under her control.”

“Stars…” Blue and Yellow Pearl both looked down, mulling this over.

Pink Pearl sighed. “Y01, B01, look. White probably wants me back under her control, too. So, my time here is limited. And if I’m going to be punished by being put under her control again, then I’m going to make a difference with what time I have.” She looked to her fellow pearls- her friends- with determination. “If you don’t want to be a part of this, I won’t make you. But  _ someone’s _ gotta tell Homeworld what happened.”

Blue Pearl began to back away, moving towards the thrones again. Yellow Pearl looked back and forth between them, then let out a breath. She sucked more air (that she didn’t need) in, then, cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted, “ALRIGHT EVERYONE, PLEASE BE QUIET NOW! WE HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT THE WHEREABOUTS OF THE DIAMONDS!”

The gems closest to the thrones fell silent, then began spreading the word for quiet back. It took a moment, but soon, the whole room had quieted down. 

Yellow Pearl looked to Pink Pearl smugly. “You’re welcome,” she smirked. The playful look dropped into something more sincere as she gestured to the crowd. “You’ve got this.”

Pink Pearl nodded to her friend gratefully. While Yellow Pearl took her place by her Diamond’s throne again, Pink Pearl moved forward so she was standing at the very front of the raised platform, just before the stairs that would lead down. Every gem could see her, and some began to whisper, the terms ‘White’s pearl,’ and ‘Pink’s old pearl,’ floating through the crowd. 

“Gems of Homeworld,” she began, “I am Pearl P01. I was under White Diamonds control until about a half an hour ago. I know where your Diamonds are, all of them!”

Murmured passed through the crowd, though they were followed by shushing.

“White Diamond has all three of them under her command. She is controlling them, just like she controlled me. She now has absolute power over Homeworld!”

More hushed whispers, too quiet for any of the three pearls to hear, but loud enough to know they existed. 

“We need to get our Diamonds back! Please, help us in talking to White. I believe we can do this! All of us!”

The crowd was silent. Gems looked back and forth at each other, each one thinking this over in some way. All three pearls waited in deep suspense. 

Then, a Hessonite spoke up. “White Diamond made the other three Diamonds so that they could share power, because she knew that running things all by herself would not work.” The orange gem climbed up onto a statue so that everyone could see her. She had poofy, curly hair, a cape, a cutlass, and her rectangle-shaped glittered on her chest. “You see, the Diamonds were each created with the sole intention of running Homeworld. White  _ knows _ this. So why would she just suddenly take control of them? Besides, that would be  _ awfully _ draining to her powers, don’t you think?” She eyed the pearl knowingly. “Now, why are we listening to the fabrications of a  _ pearl? _ We have real searching to do here, gems.”

The crowd murmured again, but then it grew into a crescendo. Voiced agreements shot Pink Pearl through the heart, and she took a few steps back in response.

The other two came up to stand beside her as the assembled gems began to chant, lead by the Hessonite. “What do we do now?” Yellow Pearl asked.

Pink Pearl sunk in on herself a little, feeling at her crack. It was quickly becoming a nervous tick of hers. “...I don’t know,” she replied sadly. 

* * *

They were (almost) ready.

The Crystal Gems were fully prepared now to head into space, honorary humans in tow (Greg had playfully referred to them as “Crystal People,” and the name was beginning to stick). The ship was stocked full of a full week’s worth of food, water, and medicine, plus whatever else the humans had wanted to bring. 

Greg had insisted on bringing his acoustic guitar, saying that the journey would be long, and had tucked Steven ukulele away with it. Priyanka brought a couple of medical books and a few survival books (though not much in there was going to help on Homeworld), and had begun quizzing Connie on what she knew, just in case they got separated. 

Connie had versed her students in as much defensive training as she could have, and each of them now held a weapon of their own. Most humans wore armor as well, covering their chests and backs, but not everyone was comfortable with that on. In any case, everyone knew the basics of defense, though Connie wished deeply they had more time so she could teach them more. The people on offense also knew the basics of swinging a sword, but Connie was determined to teach them more on the flight to Homeworld.

Now, the three gems and eight humans all huddled together, except for Peridot, the fourth gem, who was up piloting the ship. She pressed several buttons sequentially, and the blue clunker revved to life. 

“Now, the journey should take about two Earth hours,” Peridot restated from the last time she flew this ship. “Buckle up.”

“With what? There’s no seat belts on this ship,” Sour Cream spoke up, scanning the walls frantically.

“I- oh.” Peridot looked around nervously. “Sorry? Just hang tight, then!”

The ship jolted as if lifted off of the sand. Connie swayed from her spot on the floor, instinctively reaching out to grab for stability. She wound up clinging to her dad’s shirt, who placed a hand on her back reassuringly. The Seeing Eye ship continued to shake and sputter as it rose through the atmosphere, giving one final shudder before launching into the much smoother travel of space.

Everyone sighed collectively in relief. 

Greg, who was sitting on Doug and Priyanka’s other side, curled his knees closer to himself. He looked to Connie, eyebrows creased. “Hey, Connie?”

The girl in question turned her eyes to him. “Yeah?”

“When we get there, could you… could you try to warn us about potential, uh, potential Steven appearances? I… I don’t know what I’ll do if…”

Connie nodded. She could understand that. She wasn’t over seeing Steven being puppeted by White herself, either. She couldn’t imagine what kind of mental scarring that would cause a family member. “I’ll try. White can be unpredictable, so just expect it at any time, but if there’s a good time for her to appear, I’ll try to keep a lookout.” She gave the father a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be okay. Steven’s going to be really happy to see you, even if he can’t show it.”

Greg nodded a bit to himself, as though trying to make himself believe it. “I know. I just wish… do you think I can still approach him, or will White do something?”

“I…” Connie looked away. “I don’t know.” She thought for a moment. “When she first took control of him, she let both me and Peridot touch him, and I was hugging him for a good while, and nothing happened. So I think she might…? But again, she can be unpredictable. I don’t know if it’s worth the risk.”

“Hmm.” Greg hummed in thought. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Connie was unashamed to admit that she was surprised at Greg’s decision, but at the same time, the man had surprised her a lot within the last few hours. For one, he’d agreed to come on this mission- the first to volunteer, too! Second, He took the time to try and learn his way with a sword, though he was clearly uncomfortable with it. Three, he managed to get a good control on the thing as well, considering the small amount of time they had to practice. When Greg put his mind to something, there was, apparently, little one could do to stop him.

She admired him for it.

_ Speaking of training, _ she thought. Standing, Connie dramatically pulled her sword out, pretending to have a sheathe. “Alright, everyone, we have two hours until we get there,” she announced. “If you’re going to help fight, we need to go over a few things. We need to keep practicing. If you’re on the defense, you can rest now, but once we’re close, we’re all going to need to practice again and warm up. We have no idea what we’re walking into.”

There were collective nods as Barb, Sadie, Lars, the Twins, and Doug all stood up as well. Bismuth and Lapis watched them with proud, amused smiles, kicking back to watch the show and help shout advice every now and then.

Two hours was not a long time. They had to go fast. The humans were making great strides, each one of them fueled with a fire Connie had never seen in them before (except for Lars), and they wanted to give it everything they had. Steven was, apparently, a great motivator, even when he wasn’t present. In fact, Connie would argue that his absence had an even stronger drive than it would have otherwise.

They had a lot to cover, but they could do it. 

They had two measly hours to learn as much as they could, on top of the small amount of offense they already knew. Connie was confident they could do it.

_ For Steven. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think _eventually_ everything's gonna be okay, but I have no idea what's gonna happen next! And neither do any of you, and neither do your parents, cuz there's a Diamond! _Loose_ in a _Kindergarten!_


	10. Reunited 2: Electric Boogaloo

Space was big. Space was empty. Greg had been to space before, of course, but that had been when he was taken prisoner by Blue Diamond. He had been helpless back then to stand up to her, trying in vain to appeal to her status and get her to let him go. However, she was very fixed on her goal of bringing him away to Pink Diamond’s old human zoo.

Pink Diamond. Sometimes, he still couldn’t believe it. It didn’t really change his overall opinion of the gem herself- he knew who she was, all previous identities aside- though it was nice to be able to say that he’s dated royalty. Not that he ever would, but it was a nice thought nonetheless.

Rose was her name. That was who she wanted to be, so that’s who she was in Greg’s eyes. But man, was all this “Pink Diamond” stuff really starting to bother him. Again, nothing against the woman he fell in love with, but it was hard sometimes to remember that Rose and Pink were the same person. He supposed, maybe they weren’t, in a sense. Rose was kind, loving, caring, and although a bit ignorant to social cues and situations, anyone could find some part of her to absolutely adore. For Greg, that was every part of her.

And he wouldn’t change it for the world. 

But Pink Diamond. Pink seemed to be… more of a child than anything else. His knowledge of her was limited, but from context clues he got from Ruby up on the hill that one time, to Pearl trying to explain it all to him later, to Steven’s tired expressions when her name was brought up, or even from Rose herself, Pink appeared to be the gem equivalent of a human child (which honestly made him love her more. She had grown so much. It was not a stretch at all to say he loved and admired her for it, and his heart ached to be able to tell her that. Maybe one day, but that day was not today). She was carefree and wanted adventure, and forced to bear a weight she didn’t want all because she was a Diamond.

Hoo boy, if that didn’t sound familiar…

Mr. Universe looked out the window. They’d been traveling for nearly two hours; they were almost there. Connie’s group had long since stopped training, though she was considering getting them back and warmed up. They had no idea what to expect. That thought was terrifying, too much so for Greg to efficiently handle, so he gazed out the window instead. Out there, in the stars- this is where he’d always wanted to be, wasn’t it? In space? Both times he’d been out here, it had been for negative reasons; first kidnapped, and now… _this._

It was big, and it was beautiful. On the return home from the human zoo, Greg was able to properly admire it. But, he and Steven had done so together. Now, his son wasn’t here. They were out here because his son wasn’t here. It tainted the experience, though the father tried not to let it get to him too much. 

“Alright, everyone,” Peridot spoke from up front, eyes turning to her. “Homeworld is about five minutes away. Get ready.” Her usually chipper voice was dull now, focused and determined more than anything.

Connie nodded. “Right.” Standing, she picked up her sword again. “Everyone, we gotta be prepared for anything. If Homeworld doesn’t know what happened, then they won’t be happy to see us. If they do know, then I have no idea what we’ll see when we land. Weapons out.”

Shaking, Greg reached for the sword Bismuth had custom-made for him. It still made him nauseous, thinking about using it at all, but he did have to admit it looked pretty cool. It looked like something one might see out of a pirate movie; curved blade, with a curvy part around the handle to help protect the wielder’s hand from attack. He felt pretty cool just holding it. 

He looked back out the window, just in time to see a Saturn-like ring appear in the corner. The window was facing off to the side of the ship, so he could only assume the ring belonged to Homeworld. Not soon after, a smaller ring appeared beneath it, the angle of the two suggesting they cross the planet like an X.

Several humans gasped, and as Greg turned his gaze to the main windshield, he could see why.

Homeworld. It was split down the middle, cut into thirds. It had multiple holes cut into the surface, and the grey color of it reflected light from the nearby star almost harshly. As they neared the planet, Greg could begin to make out different buildings and spires, floating arenas and other plain buildings that blended everything together, and yet looked like _nothing_ you’d find on Earth. 

The ship entered a large, flat building with a wide opening in the front. Upon seeing inside, the man understood why; it was a shipyard. Peridot flew the blue ship to a cluster of other ships just like it, but varying slightly in size and design, and showing off a rainbow of different colors. It parked in an empty spot perfectly, and as soon as it was set down, the green star on the wall hissed. The door popped open, then smoothly laid down, creating a ramp off the ship.

No one moved to exit just yet, though some people did stand. Dr. Maheswaran moved towards her small pile of medical supplies, grabbing a large duffle bag and slinging it over her shoulder. Connie grabbed a backpack, which was stuffed with medical supplies and food, while the other humans all reached for their own luggage as well.

Greg could feel himself shaking. This was Homeworld. This was the planet Rose had fought so hard against for so long, this is where all those gems that nearly stole Steven away from him several times lived. This was the heart of enemy territory. That thought alone was enough to send a shiver down his spine, and he tried to gulp it back down again, but all that did was betray his nervousness to the crowd.

Connie wound up moving first, with Bismuth right behind her. She looked over her shoulder, holding a finger over her mouth and mouthing a _“shhh”_ motion. Then, she exited. Lapis and Peridot were next after Bismuth, then finally, Greg moved. He led the remaining team off the ship.

It was quiet. There were no other gems in sight. Lapis and Peridot looked to each other in confusion, signifying that this was an odd occurrence. Well, if gems were anything like humans, that was understandable. Surly, someone had to stay and watch, just to be sure nothing got stolen, right?

“I don’t think anyone knows we’re here yet,” Connie murmured. “That’s odd… we didn’t exactly camouflage ourselves…” she looked back at the brilliant-blue ship.

As if in response, a large, white sphere appeared before the group, standing taller than Bismuth. Connie and Lapis gasped, the four Crystal Gems who were here before each taking a step back.

“Greg, watch out,” Connie called back to him softly, yet strained. 

He understood. He tensed, preparing himself for whatever he was about to see.

The bubble vanished, falling away in a way that reminded the old rocker of water leaving a bottle. Revealed to be on the inside was Steven. He wore a smile, arms stretched out to his sides. His eyes scanned the crowd, and Greg watched as they widened a little bit, but beyond that, he didn’t react.

“Why, what a surprise to see you back here, pet!” Steven greeted, walking- no, _sliding-_ forward towards Connie. His feet didn’t move at all during the motion. “Are you here for your precious Pink? Your so-called ‘friends,’ perhaps?”

Greg cringed. That sounded nothing like his boy at all. _It’s not him,_ he reminded himself, but hearing Steven’s voice say these things made it harder to tell himself that. It certainly _looked_ like him, and his brain couldn’t tell a difference. _That’s NOT Steven,_ he told himself firmly.

“White Diamond,” Connie growled, “we’re here to free Steven and the rest of the Crystal Gems that are under your power. Hand them over.”

Steven almost looked startled for a second, but then, he laughed. It didn’t sound like his laugh, though; this one was much more lengthy, less-giggly, and somehow _condescending._ It felt off. It felt _weird._ “You have no power here,” White scoffed through Greg’s son. “Crawl back to your little planet and I’ll forget you were ever here.”

Greg’s heart ached. This felt surreal, like he’d wake up at any moment and this would have been a nightmare. He had never had a sword, Steven was never in this situation, and he was safe and warm in the Beach House. Or, at the very least, talks with White Diamond were going smoothly, and they were on their way home right now to heal all the corrupted gems.

But alas, one small pinch to the forearm told him that this was not a nightmare.

Connie gave a playful laugh. “Nice try, but we’re not going anywhere,” she grinned, crossing her arms. “We’re not leaving until we get what we came for.”

Steven’s eyes began to tear up. Greg’s heart clenched. 

The kid sighed, seemingly ignoring the involuntary action. “Very well. Have it your way. This will be most amusing to watch.” The tears broke free, and Steven’s breathing started to come out a bit shakier. 

Greg couldn’t take it. He released his sword, listening to it clatter to the ground behind him as he rushed forward, ignoring the yelps from the rest of the team. He stopped in front of Steven, dropping to his knees, and pulled his son into a hug.

Steven gasped, and somehow, the way he took in air sounded like he was himself again, and not White. He didn’t know how- maybe he was imagining it. But that was enough for Greg to squeeze. “I’m here, buddy,” the father whispered in his son’s ear. “We’re all here. We’re gonna get you out of this, okay?”

“Get off me.” His voice was chipper as he spoke, giving it an undertone that made Greg stiffen. He was in real danger- he knew Steven would never hurt him, but _that’s not Steven,_ he had to scold himself again. Would White hurt him? He wasn’t sure, and didn’t really want to find out. 

After giving one last squeeze, Greg played along. “Oh, sorry your majesty,” he grinned sheepishly, moving away. He stood up and shrugged at Steven- no, at White. “Got a bit carried away there.” He winked, knowing Steven would know what that meant. Did White know what a wink meant? He wasn’t sure, but at this point, he didn’t care. She could think whatever she wanted to think about him; Greg didn’t care enough about her to care what she thought of him. 

Steven’s eyes softened ever so slightly at the wink, and Greg could have sworn his whole body relaxed a bit, too. 

“You all have quite the journey ahead of you,” White continued. “I shouldn’t keep you longer. I trust you can make it back alright.”

Peridot opened her mouth to say something, but Lapis laying a hand on her shoulder silenced her. Everyone watched quietly as the white bubble appeared around Steven again, and then sunk through the floor, surely headed back up to White’s headquarters. 

The silence remained even after the bubble had gone.

That fake smile on Steven’s face was going to haunt Greg for a long time, he knew that. Looking to Connie, he could tell she was feeling the same way. They locked eyes, each trying to read the other. The rocker could see the determination in Connie’s expression, and the worry that went with it. He guessed he didn’t look too different himself.

Connie walked a few paces to him and placed a hand on his forearm. “It’s going to be alright,” she said softly. “We’ll get him back.”

Greg nodded. “Yeah. We will.” He walked back to his spot from before, picking his sword back up from off the ground, feeling more hesitant to use it than before, and yet more willing at the same time.

“So, that was White Diamond?” Doug Maheswaran asked, looking to the three gems. “I can see why she was so hard to talk to…”

Priyanka’s face was drawn in a frown, mulling over what she’d just seen. “When we get to Steven again, he’s free or not, I want to try and take his temperature,” she announced. “He seemed paler than I remember him usually being.”

Thinking back, Greg found himself agreeing. There was a natural redness to his cheeks that stayed there constantly, becoming deeper whenever he blushed. HIs skin had always been sun-tanned, not too bad, and was warm to the touch.

Steven had felt cold when he’d hugged him.

“And did you see those cool stripes running down his arms?” Sour Cream asked. “Those looked awesome.”

Everyone looked at him blankly. “No…?” Jenny answered. 

Sour Cream shrugged. “Well, they looked cool. I guess bein’ around my mom a lot helps see the smaller things.”

“Wait,” Peridot perked up, looking at SC with raised eyebrows. “What did the stripes look like?”

“Uhh,” SC thought for a minute. “They were a really light greyish-white color against his skin, and they ran longways, like this.” He pointed to his own arm, running a finger down it, following the path a vein might take. “I didn’t get a good look at them, though.”

Peridot looked at Lapis, who had since taken on a surprised look as well. “That sounds like light passages,” the green gem said. 

“Light passages?” Connie cocked her head to the side a bit. “What’s that…?”

“A light passage is the general path in which energy from our gems travel throughout our bodies,” Peridot replied, confidence overriding her surprise for the moment. “That’s what allows us to sustain a physical form. Without those, we’d dissipate instantly, or never form at all!”

“That sounds like the gem equivalent of veins and arteries, or nerves,” Dr. Maheswaran tapped a finger to her chin. “Are you saying Steven has those, too?”

Peridot nodded. “Back over a year ago, I kidnapped Steven and his friends and took them on a ship. We were about to fly for Homeworld, but then, the Crystal gems broke free. I hit Steven with a destabilizer, which should have poofed him, but instead it had no effect. His arms and face did begin to light up with energy, though, so I know the destabilizer was _working…_ ” 

She looked up from her little monologue, seeing quite a few wide eyes pointed in her direction. She frowned, shrugging. “What? That was a long time ago! That was back when I was trying to destroy the Earth. I _live_ there now!”

Connie took a few steps towards her mom, looking contemplative. “If Steven has both veins and light passages, then that means he and his gem half do, in fact, coexist together at the same time. White can only control gems. So, that means when Steven gets hit with the beam…”

“...only his gem half is being controlled,” Priyanka finished.

Connie nodded. “That’s what I thought anyways, but now we have proof. That means Steven could potentially fight back! Right?”

Greg felt his heart lighten a bit at that. But, “won’t it be hard, though? White is so much stronger than he is.”

Connie’s determined, hopeful gaze met his. “It’s worth a try, isn’t it? Now, we might not have to just steal Steven back; now, he can even help to push her out faster!”

Greg smiled, then grinned. “Yeah… yeah! You’re right! It’s worth a try!”

Peridot flew up on her trash can lid, pointing dramatically to the door located not too far away. “Let’s go rescue our friends!”

There were cheers from Crystal Gems and Crystal People alike (Greg was still proud of that name), and the group split up; one half was lead by Lars Barriga, with the goal of spreading the word about White and the other Diamonds, while the other group, led by the Rutile Twins, was headed for White’s head. 

“C’mon, team, we got some gems to rally!” Lars yelled, climbing back aboard the ship. Peridot raced back in after him, helping to assist in the piloting, with Sadie, Barb, Jenny, Sour Cream, and Lars rushing in after them. The Rutile Twins motioned for their group to follow them out the door, with Connie and Greg moving first, Bismuth, Lapis, and Dr. Maheswaran following quickly after.

Greg turned to look over his shoulder, watching as the blue ship rose from the ground again and flew off. “Good luck,” he murmured under his breath, before turning back around to rush after the Twins. It wouldn’t be long before he saw his son again, and, sword gripped in hand, he’d do everything in his power to make sure he would be okay once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _You all have no idea how freaking excited I am for the upcoming chapters OwO_
> 
> I really like writing from Greg's perspective! I should try that more often lol. He's one of the characters I really click with (the other two being Steven and Spinel) and understand, so it was really easy to put this chapter together. And now that the group has split up, gang, that should leave more room for other characters to get the spotlight for a bit! Like, I really want to write from Doug's perspective, and Dr. Maheswaran, and maybe Sadie's! 
> 
> Buckle up, chirren, we're going on an adventure!
> 
> EDIT: Artwork by me! Can you see the light passages? ;)


	11. *points at Homeworld* This is an on-fire garbage can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The team has officially split up! One group at a time starting with Lars'! 
> 
> Oh yeah, I forgot Lars existed when I was writing the last part of Chapter 10. He's taken over leading the team from Doug. :)
> 
> Sorry this one took so long! I've been working on an animatic for my own original story! I'll probably start uploading content for that here, too, but not yet. Maybe one day soon, but not yet. Either way, be on the lookout! It's @follychromatic on Tumblr!
> 
> All that out of the way, enjoy!

Lars Barriga stood next to Peridot, looking out the windshield as she piloted the ship back out into the open Homeworld air. The Twin’s group had taken a large amount of supplies with them when they left, leaving a lot of the ship emptier than before. Priyanka Maheswaran had a large portion of their medical supplies as well. Lars wished all of them luck, glancing over at the small pile of first aid kits sitting on the wall to his right.

Right now, his focus was on spreading the word to the rest of the gems of Homeworld. No one knew how much the gems knew, so they had to be careful about what they said. The back door was currently open, with Barb and Sadie leaning out of it. Everyone else watched the windows, looking for signs of the gems that  _ supposedly _ lived here. But, if gems did, if fact, live here, then where in stars were they?

Homeworld was emptied out. Every now and then, Lars thought he’d seen a group of gems, but they’d fly closer, and it would turn out to be a cluster of statues, or the gems would have long since run away and into hiding. They needed to find everyone. Lars didn’t understand. He’d been here before, back when he and Steven were taken prisoner, and there had been gems  _ everywhere. _ It was hard to get around because of how many eyes were constantly surveying the surroundings.

“Wait,” Sadie’s voice spoke up. Peridot stilled the ship, bringing it to a hover. The hum of the engine quieted, enough for a distant chanting to filter in through the open door. The Crystal People (plus Peridot) all looked at each other, then began to scan the horizon line. Peridot rotated the ship around so the sound could continue to filter in through the back door. When it was at its loudest, she pulled a 180 and went in that direction.

The closer the group got to the chanting, the more gems began to appear beneath them. They were huddled in small groups, running around in worry, or pointing up at them. Lars recognized rubies, sapphires, a few lapises, citrines, emeralds (though he didn’t see his Emerald from before), and a lot of other elite, high-class gems. In fact, most gems here seemed to be elite, with the exception of guard-type gems, who were accompanying them to... somewhere.

When there were enough gems beneath them to really start spreading their message, Peridot fell into a hover again. The chanting was still a ways away, too far to tell what they were saying, but they would get there in a few moments. Beneath them were at least 30 gems, most elite, with a few rubies and topazes here and there.

“Gems of Homeworld,” Barb’s loud, clear voice cut through the air, “your Diamonds are currently under the mind control powers of White Diamond! All three of them are!”

“We need your help in getting them back,” Sadie added. “Join together to free them!”

Lars watched as the gems turned to look at each other. The ship was too far away to efficiently read their expressions, but from the way a lot of gems crossed their arms or turned around, he guessed their message hadn’t landed just yet.

A pair of blue gems with water wings- more lapises- flew up in front of the ship. One of them had her hair in a ponytail, with little freckles on her face. Her gem was on her naval. The other had darker, curlier hair, and housed her gem on her left shoulder. They both looked through the windshield, then ducked under the ship, appearing at the door. Barb and Sadie backed up, allowing the two gems to enter the room. Lars put a hand on the handle of his sword, ready in case they decided these humans weren’t worth the trouble. He watched as Doug did the same.

“Alright, you’ve got Homeworld’s attention,” the one with curly hair stated plainly. “What do you really want?”

Doug stepped forward. “Your help. White Diamond has taken control of all three Diamonds. Have you noticed that they’re missing?”

“I heard they were just on a mission to Earth again,” the gem with the freckles said, cocking her head a bit. “The Cluster still hasn’t emerged, and they’re getting tired of waiting.”

Lars shook his head. “We saw Ste- Pink Diamond when we landed,” he told them. “He-  _ she _ is still under White’s command, though he isn’t black and white like the other controlled gems are.”

Both lapises raised an eyebrow at him. “Then, how do you know?” Curly asked. “That’s, like, the only way you can really tell.”

“No way,” Jenny exclaimed, aghast. “He wasn’t acting like himself at  _ all. _ His entire personality did a 180.”

“Yeah. It was really creepy,” Sour Cream added. 

“Besides, it’s not just Pink,” Lars continued, braving a few steps closer. “White has Yellow and Blue, too, and they are gonna be bleached for sure.”

“‘Bleached’?” Freckles blinked at him. “What does that mean?”

“I- ignore that. They’re gonna be black and white is what I mean.” Lars shook his head, berating himself for using Earth vocabulary on Homeworld, then extended a hand. “Could you two please help us? We need the Homeworld gems to rally together and help take their Diamonds back. White can’t control all of us.”

Curly snorted, then began laughing. “So what? You think we’re gonna magically believe you? Seriously, what do you  _ really _ want?”

Freckles, however, looked to the ground in thought.

Curly noticed. She nudged her friend, giving her a frown. “What, you’re not seriously thinking about believing them, are you? They’re a bunch of  _ organics. _ What do they even  _ know _ about our Diamonds?”

“Well, considering we know Pink Diamond personally,” Lars crossed his arms with a grin, “I’d say pretty well.”

Curly rolled her eyes, turning to move back out. Freckles, however, was intrigued. She took a step closer in awe. “You’ve met Pink Diamond?”

“He prefers to go by ‘Steven’,” Peridot spoke up, turning around in her chair. She stood up, satisfied the ship wouldn’t crash without her constant supervision, and placed her hands on her hips proudly. “I’ve known him since  _ before _ he knew he had the Pink Diamond gemstone. He thought he was a Rose Quartz for his entire life before that.” She laughed, like it was the funniest thing ever. “How does someone just not  _ know  _ that?” She shrugged, shaking her head fondly, like it was Steven’s fault somehow he was lied to. “The point being, we know him well. And who we met when we landed was not Steven.” 

Curly had stopped, and now whipped around. She glared at Peridot pointedly, flaring her water wings behind her threateningly. “Do you  _ seriously _ think you and your organics can come here to Homeworld and start spreading lies like this? The Diamonds are on Earth! Pink Diamond is here, in the palace, probably grounded after what happened at the ball!” She ignored the sharp gasps that statement earned her. “Then you claim she’s called ‘Steven,’ which is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard, and you want us to tear each other apart over this? Where is your evidence?” 

Doug, Lars, and Barb all took a step forward, ready to continue explaining some more, but the lapis wasn’t done just yet. “No, I get it. You just want Homeworld to go to war with itself again. That’s what saved your planet last time, and you’re sure that that’ll help you this time.” She grinned at them knowingly, bringing her eyebrows down in a smug look. “Well, surprise, but you’re wrong!”

Freckles stood in front of her friend, arms spread out wide. “Wait! What if they’re speaking the truth? We never saw the Diamond ships leave again- no one did! And Pink was on Earth for so long, maybe she did make friends with organics? Besides, everyone always talks about how silly she was. Maybe changing her name is something she did for fun?”

Curly blinked at her in disbelief? “You… you believe them?”

Freckles shrugged. “No? I just want to give them the benefit of the doubt.”

Lars felt his heart lift. Freckles might be on their side here. He had to step carefully and not let that go. “Who is your Diamond, Blue?” At their nods, he continued. “Well, from what I know about her, shouldn’t she have had a few appointments with the elite gems by now? Where has she been for those?”

Curly rolled her eyes. “We’re not elite gems, low-life. How would we know?”

Doug blinked. “Well, you must have noticed  _ something _ off about her, right?”

Curly crossed her arms. “No. Nothing.”

“Actually,” Freckles took a tiny step forward, looking to the ground, “that’s why we’ve started gathering together. We’re waiting for the Diamonds to come back. It’s only been a few days at this point, but no one has seen them at all. We’re just waiting for the word to keep going.” She scratched the back of her head. “Most gems are still going on missions and working, worried about making their Diamonds upset, but with them missing, a lot of elite gems have started gathering together in places the Diamonds commonly visit, looking for any sign of them.” 

Curly glared at Freckles. “You can’t just  _ tell them _ that! Now they’re going to go to the Palace!”

Lars blinked. The increasing anger from the second was going to bring this ship down in a large splash if he couldn’t get control and calm her down (from what he knew about lapises, anyway). He stepped between them, holding his hands up.

“Okay, you crazy chicks, we aren’t here to fight,” Lars grumbled. “We don’t want you turning on each other at all. We need you to band together so you can help us free Yellow and Blue.”

“WHY?” Curly smacked Lars’ hand away. “Why do you care about the Diamonds? They’re trying to kill you!”

“Not anymore!” Lars raised a finger at her. “Since Steven talked to them, they’ve been trying to help cure the corrupted gems on Earth. They can’t destroy us or all those thousands of gems will be  _ shattered!” _ He heard Doug and Sour Cream come up behind him, giving a boost to his confidence. “They came here to ask White Diamond for help in healing the corrupted gems, but, from what I heard from people who  _ saw it, _ she just took control of them instead.”

Curly glared furiously at him, water wings sprouting out behind her threateningly. “Who, then? Who saw this happen?”

“I did!” Peridot ran to Lars’ side, throwing her hands out. “They both told White that they wanted to start changing Homeworld because they were both miserable, and then Steven asked if White could just let them talk to her so things could be better! But she blasted them with her white beams, like  _ pshew pshew! _ And then they got possessed!” She animatedly bounced around as she spoke, throwing her arms this way and that to punctuate her descriptions. “If you haven’t seen them again, it’s because she’s still in control of them!”

Curly backed away from them, moving towards the door again. “I can’t believe this. You all actually think I’d believe a story like that? Homeworld is  _ perfect _ just the way it is! Why would they want to change it? Everyone has a place and everyone is happy in that place. Can’t you see that?”

“That’s not true. I wasn’t happy until I learned to love the Earth,” Peridot said calmer, taking a step forward. Curly shuffled back in response. Freckles watched her friend with a torn look on her face, looking between her and the rebel group frantically. “I just ... did what I was told. And if I wasn’t happy, there must be other gems who aren’t either.”

Curly gave one last disgusted look before scoffing. “Come on, Lapis, let’s go. I want to warn Homeworld about these liars before things get any worse.”

Freckles didn’t move, still looking between both parties. “I... I’m not sure...”

Curly froze with her back to everyone in the room, before whipping around to face her partner. “...What. Are. You. Doing?”

“I-I just think that we should listen to them,” Freckles stammered. She held her clenched hands close to her chest. “They have a point! Neither Diamond ship has left the planet, so they- they’re at- they must still be here! A-and if they’re here, then where are they on Homeworld? No one knows!” She relaxed a bit, thinking back. She waved a finger in the air. “And there was that big battle a few days ago that stopped really suddenly, and-”

“Just stop.” Curly growled. “I can’t believe this. Good job, low-lifes, you officially split Homeworld! Earth is safe since we’re gonna fight each other now!” She ran forward out of the ship, ignoring Freckle’s calls after her. “I’m going to warn Homeworld before it’s too late!” She jumped, and was gone. 

Everyone stared after her. Freckles, especially, looked heartbroken that her friend would just run off like that. She stared at the ground sadly. 

Lars placed a hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright?” He knew what it was like to fight with someone you loved, be it romantically, platonically, or anything in between. He wasn’t sure what they’re relationship was, and he wasn’t about to pry, either, but someone had to play Steven while he wasn’t here.

To Lars’ surprise, Freckles gave him a harsh glare when she turned back around. “You had better be right about this,” she growled. 

Lars gave her a soft smile. “You’ll see.”

Freckles shut her eyes, taking a deep breath, before facing the rest of the crew, all of whom were pretty much stunned into silence. “Okay, I want to help you. If you’re right, and Blue really is possessed, then I want to do everything I can to free her. What do you need me to do?”

Lars snapped into leadership mode in an instant. “Fly around and spread the world to as many gems as possible. The plan is to try and storm into White’s head, since she can’t control everyone, especially not while controlling three Diamonds. We get in there and we  _ make _ her listen.” He frowned determinedly. “She had a chance to listen willingly before, and she didn’t take it. You all have been suffering long enough, and we  _ need _ her help. We’re not leaving until she listens to us, be it because she has to, or because she actually stops for five seconds.”

Freckles blinked a few times. “You wanna attack her?”

“No.” Doug placed his hands on his hips. “We just want to overwhelm her. If a bunch of gems crawl into her head, we’re hoping that will be enough to stop her.”

“There’s no way we can actually poof White Diamond,” Peridot offered, returning to her seat. “She has way too much density to do that. It would be destined to fail.”

“Besides, that plan would  _ not _ be Steven-approved,” Jenny pointed out, smiling at the memory of the kid in question. “Do you know how much trouble we’d be in with him if we tried something like that?”

“Not to mention, he’d probably freak out a lot,” Sadie chimed in.

“Yeah, no poofing or shattering her,” Lars agreed. “We just want to show her that Homeworld won’t stay silent anymore. She’s gone too far this time.”

Freckles let out a sigh of relief. “Okay. Then I’m on-board. I’ll get right to it!” She sprouted her wings and took off before anyone could say anything else to her.

This was going to be difficult. That was one interaction down, but they still had thousands more gems to convince before this was over. This was going to be draining- heck, it already  _ was. _ They were going to be here for a while, and Steven was going to be forced to wait for them the entire time, alone with White Diamond, and according to more recent theories, he wouldn’t even get the luxury of nothingness while being possessed. He’d just be existing.

And yet, despite that, Lars smiled.

It was possible to fix this. They just needed to hold strong. They might be humans (and Homeworld was  _ definitely _ full of racists who would completely ignore them for that fact alone), but they had the power to make a difference here on Homeworld; a bunch of squishy people helping space goddesses. It was cool. It was  _ empowering. _ He only felt his confidence increase.

“Alright, gang, one down!” Lars grinned at his crew, who looked at him with bewildered, exhausted, and scared faces. “We’ve made some pretty great progress, huh?”

“But, Homeworld is  _ huge, _ ” Doug stated. “How are we going to convince everyone?”

“Plus, if all gems act like that curly-haired blue lady, no one will listen to us at all!” Barb threw her hands out a bit to her sides. 

“Hey, no, we got one gem,” Sadie told her. She smiled. “We’ve only spoken to two so far, and we convinced one. That’s 50%, which is a pretty good ratio, all things considered.”

“Exactly!” Lars snapped his fingers, making finger guns in her direction. “Plus, they might not listen to us, but they will be more likely to listen to fellow gems. We only had one gem before, but now we have two.” he looked to Peridot now, who was beaming, proud to have such an honor. “That doubles our chances already.”

“Then what are we waitin’ for?” Jenny raced to Peridot’s chair, excitedly looking out towards the Homeworld Palace, White’s head, the five, pointed bits sticking out ominously, not phasing her in the slightest. “We got some ground to cover!”

The crew cheered, ready to continue on. This was  _ going _ to take a while, that was a given, but it could be done.

And if Lars had learned anything out here, it was that if it  _ could _ be done, then it was worth trying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...could be redeemable...
> 
> So, we'll be seeing a few familiar faces here. Place your bets as to who is next! We'll be catching up with Greg's group in the next chapter!


	12. I Am His Dad

Greg had known, logically, that Homeworld was a planet. And, logically, that meant it was huge. So, logically, you couldn’t just cross it in a day, nor could you just pull up a map of the area you were in.  _ Logically. _

That didn’t stop him from imagining it as a very large city, though.

He  _ saw _ Homeworld as they were landing. He  _ knew _ what it looked like, and how large it was. But, seeing it and actually sneaking around on it were two very different things, and Greg found himself feeling like they were getting nowhere.

It had been about two hours at this point. The Rutile Twins were leading their group through as many backdoors as they could, rushing through Kindergartens and ducking behind buildings. There were gems here and there, and they had to avoid being seen, though more than once, the Twins commented on how surprisingly easy this was. It was like everyone had vanished.

Dr. Maheswaran walked beside Connie, the both of them on constant edge, though with the Doctor, it seemed to be more of an anxiety thing, whereas with Connie, she just looked like she wanted to make sure they weren’t about to get jumped. That was probably smart, Greg supposed, though he’d tried looking out himself, and found himself lost fast. He had no idea what to look for. He trusted Connie did, though, and kept his eyes forward.

White’s head. That was where they were going. When they were in the blue ship, Greg hadn’t taken the time to look for it, but Connie had spotted it immediately. She told the Twins the general direction they needed to go, and they went. However, it was a long way off, and now, the two of them were looking for some way to gain higher ground so they could have a look around and pin the ship’s location once and for all. Lapis had volunteered to fly up, but Bismuth had said she wasn’t sure that was a good idea- if Homeworld saw her and recognised the new star on her outfit, they’d be toast.

However, that was assuming Homeworld was still even  _ here. _

The twins slowed down, pausing to look around a corner of what appeared to be a skyscraper. They motioned for the group to pause as well while they scanned. After a moment, they both turned back around. 

“The coast is clear,” the one on Greg’s left said.

“We’re safe for now,” the one on the right added. “And, there’s a way up.”

“We can get higher.”

“That’s great!” Connie smiled. “How far up do we need to go?” She stepped forward next to them so she could see for herself. Greg found himself following, curiosity burning in his chest for a brief moment. Even if every second he spent here was inducing all the anxiety he’d ever had all at once and then some, even he had to admit the layout here was neat, if a bit confusing. It was like a giant city, all of it (which might be why it was hard to imagine it as a planet). 

The building they were looking at now was gigantic. It was square on the ground, but stretched up high into the sky. There was a door visible on the side, and windows going all the way up, implying the presence of stairs. Greg gulped. Did he  _ want _ to walk all the way up there? 

“Hey, ahh, that’s... really tall,” he commented. 

Connie, getting the message, placed a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, not everyone has to come. In fact, Lapis and I could just go, if that’d be okay. We’ll be back in a flash!” She smiled.

Priyanka opened her mouth, probably to object, but shut it again, taking in a breath. “Okay, just be careful. There could be a lot of gems in there.”

“Don’t worry,” Lapis replied calmly, leaning on Connie’s head with an elbow (much to the shorter’s annoyance). “If there are any gems up there, Connie can take them. And if she can’t,  _ I will. _ We’ll be safe.” 

Priyanka sighed, agreeing, and the two ran off. Lapis’ wings sprouted behind her as she ran in, and considering it only took them two minutes tops to come back out, Greg felt it safe to bet they flew up to the top together.

When they did emerge again, they both looked stressed. “White’s head is in the direction we’ve been going,” Connie informed them, “but it’s reeeeally far away.”

“This is gonna take a while,” Lapis agreed. 

Bismuth hummed in thought. “Well, what if we used a warp to get us closer? We could take out anyone who sees us easily.”

The Twins shook their heads. “That’s a bad idea,” Left said. 

“We don’t know where the Homeworld gems are, and they could be anywhere,” Right added.

“There could be a million gems at the warp. It’s too risky,” Left concluded. They crossed their arms. 

Greg scratched at the back of his head. “Do we have any other ideas?” He was racking his brain, but he wasn’t coming up with anything. He guessed that made sense- he’d never been on Homeworld before, and the only gem transports he knew about were warps and ships. They could fly a ship, but then someone might see them. Or worse, White could see them approaching and counterattack.

“I could find some water,” Lapis suggested. “With enough, I could just pick you all up and we could be there in a flash.”

“How much water is there on Homeworld?” Connie asked. Greg hadn’t seen so much as a droplet since they’d landed- it was a fair question.

Lapis shrunk. “Not a lot...”

“...yeah, it came from over here,” a voice spoke. The group gasped, looking at each other frantically. They could hear footsteps approaching now, and there was nowhere to hide. The Twins, on instinct, began backing away into the shadows, hoping to not be seen. Everyone else tensed, either bracing for a fight or too scared to move.

“Hallo? Anyone over here?” A high-pitch voice called out. Greg felt Connie stiffen beside him. “I know I heard someone back here!” A light blue gem fluttered into view. She reminded Greg of Lapis very quickly, though this gem was easily half her size, maybe smaller. Her gem, shaped like a teardrop, was positioned under her eye, like she was crying. However, when she turned to face the group, her expression was anything but sad. Her eyes landed on Connie, and her smile fell. “YOU?! You’re one of those ‘umans I had to fetch for the Diamonds!”

“Aquamarine,” Connie growled, gripping her sword tighter.

The gem- Aquamarine- giggled, a sound that would have been innocent under different circumstances. “You’re a lot more aggressive that I remember you being! Tell me, what are you  _ Crystal Gems _ up to this time?” Her eyes moved to scan the other three gems standing in their group.

“That’s none of your business,” Bismuth growled. She shapeshifted her hands into hammers. Greg gulped, knowing how strong she could be if she wanted to, since he had watched her build the house. She put that place together again in a matter of days. 

“Hey, uhh, this is probably a bad time, but...” All eyes turned to Greg, who shrunk instinctively under Aqua’s gaze. “...Who is this?”

“Aquamarine, at your service!” She did a light curtsy. “And this is my guard, Lavender Alexite!” She gestured to someone off to her right, still hidden behind the wall. 

On her cue, the gem stepped forward. She was about the same build as Bismuth, though a bit taller and a bit thinner. She was a light purple color, with a blue diamond insignia on her chest. An elbow-length cape flapped behind her. The gasps earned from the Crystal Gems around him told Greg no one had seen this gem before. He couldn’t see her gem, leading him to believe it was on her backside somewhere.

Connie straightened up. “Where’s Topaz?”

Aqua giggled again- she did that a lot- and fluttered up to Lavender’s height. “That mess? She’s probably off on another mission from the Diamonds! I don’t know where she is, and I don’t care.”

Connie frowned. “Aquamarine, we can’t let you leave here.” She adjusted her sword, letting the light glint off of it threateningly. “Surrender now, or else.”

Aqua rolled her eyes, reaching a hand up for the cute lil black bowtie in her hair. “The Connie was always very bossy,” she recalled. “We’re not going anywhere without your gems in our hands, sweetie.” 

While Greg felt himself beginnning to sweat, Connie seethed at that. “We’ll see. SWORDS!”

At her call, Greg and Pryianka reached for their weapons, both of them shaking. They weren’t prepared for this. Greg didn’t want to fight. He wasn’t even sure if he could go through with hurting someone else, even if they did attack him first. One look at Dr. Maheswaran confirmed that she was having similar thoughts.  _ Doctor’s oath, _ something in his mind supplied. That made sense, right?

Also at Connie’s call, Lavender reached behind her. From her upper back area, something glowed, and when she brought her hand forward again, she held a warhammer. Her cape flapped a bit from the wind summoning the weapon had created. She grinned, waiting for the word to attack.

“Now now, there’s no need for violence,” Aqua tsked. “We wouldn’t want more of that than we already have, now would we? Just come with us, and maybe Blue Diamond will go easy on you.”

“Blue Diamond can’t hurt us,” Connie growled back. “She’s being possessed by White Diamond. That’s why we’re here, to help free them. All three Diamonds are under her control.”

Aqua raised a brow, allowing Connie to continue. The girl straightened up immediately, seizing this chance. “You know how Rose Quartz was actually Pink Diamond?”

Aqua’s eyes widened a bit in surprise, but after a second of thought, she scoffed. “Yeah? Doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve punishment. If what you’re saying is true, then she’s Homeworld’s greatest traitor, Diamond or not.” She pulled her ribbon down, and gave it a flick with her wrist. It straightened out into something akin to a magic wand.

Connie saw this, backing up a bit subconsciously. “Well, your opinion is yours. The point is, he tried to convince White to heal the corrupted gems on Earth. He had Blue and Yellow on-board with his plan, they just needed White. But she possessed all three of them instead.”

Aqua grinned. “Good. She’s getting what she deserves, then. Good thing, too- she was  _ awfully _ rude.”

Greg blinked at that, trying to imagine the situation. Steven, rude? Since when? Well, he  _ had _ been under a lot of stress- plus, wasn’t Lars with him? That probably amounted to something less than pleasant. Nevermind, it made perfect sense that Steven wasn’t the kindest to her.

“What about Blue, though?” Connie pressed. “Does she deserve to be kept under White’s control?”

“I suppose not,” Aqua replied, waving the wand around in a circle as she faked contemplation. “However, White Diamond’s judgement is impeccable. If she thinks Blue deserved it, then she probably did.” She shrugged her shoulders and kicked out her feet- again, another pose that would look innocent if this gem were anyone else.

Greg stepped forward, earning a frightened glance from Connie in the process. “Hey now, just because someone messes up, doesn’t make it okay to suddenly take everything away from them. No one deserves that.” He frowned, trying to shut out his own bad memories as he spoke. “Blue might be terrible, but I wouldn’t wish possession on anyone. Besides, my son is up there, and he’s organic. He’ll die if we don’t let him go. This isn’t about punishment- it’s about his life.” He felt his heart ache as he spoke. 

“Well, maybe My Son had it coming, too,” Aquamarine crossed her arms. 

Greg blinked. ‘My son’? But gems didn’t...? He shook his head, realizing that she thought My Son was someone’s name. “No no, his name is Steven. Pink Diamond?”

Aqua scowled. “And why would I care about her? She is the  _ worst! _ A traitor to Homeworld, valuing the Earth over her own planet!”

“That isn’t Pink Diamond,” Greg pressed, taking another step forward. His hands were pressed against his chest, hoping to get through to her. Connie took a step forward with him, hands gripped around her sword tightly. “This is about her son. His name is Steven.”

“Oh? Really?” Aquamarine glared at him, probably thinking he was making it all up. 

“Yes. I should know, I’m his dad.”

Connie froze beside him. It only lasted for a second before she dove between them, holding her sword at the ready. “Mr. Universe, stand down,” she commanded harshly, but in a quieter tone. “Don’t tell her that!”

“Oh, A Connie, put your sword down.” Aqua sat down on Lavender’s shoulder, the latter of which rolling her eyes uncomfortably. “I’d rather take you to the Zoo myself then, if the Diamonds really are being punished as you say they are. Let’s see, we have A Connie,” she pointed at her, “and two other humans! That ought to make the Diamonds happy! Tell me, what are your titles?”

“They’re not goin’ ANYWHERE with you!” Bismuth shouted, stomping closer. “We’re here to free Steven and the other two Diamonds. We’re not gonna let someone like you stop-”

She was cut off as Aqua raised a hand. She held her black wand thing, and from it, a blue energy shot out, freezing the blacksmith in place. The gem’s eyes widened as realization hit her. Greg couldn’t even see her struggling aside from the wild movements of her eyes. 

“Temper, temper,” the fairy-like gem chided. “Go somewhere else and cool off, will you?”

And with that, she flung Bismuth into the stratosphere.

Lapis gasped, sprouting her water wings and taking off after her.

Greg’s grip tightened around his sword. He knew Aquamarine’s name- she was the one who had stolen Steven away all those months ago, when he was taken to Homeworld as a prisoner. She had been out for him, too, apparently, though he’d never met the gem herself. Word had it that he was the only human on her list who had that luxury. Maybe that was why he was so calm around her? He knew-  _ logically- _ that she was a threat and that he needed to be careful around her, but until now, that had never fully registered itself in his mind. 

Now, though, he felt mad. This gem was the one who stole his son away. She just threw Bismuth into the air like it was nothing. What else was she capable of? What had she  _ done _ to him?

Connie must have felt the same, because she let out an angry yell that Greg immediately deemed a battle cry before she flung herself at the two gems. Lavender danced out of the way, jostling Aqua off her shoulder as she did so. She brought her hammer down, to which Connie ducked and rolled out of the way. Greg heard Priyanka suck in a breath.

That seemed to be all the motivation the mother needed. She gripped her sword, too, and rushed forward. Her form was much sloppier than Connie’s was, though from what Greg could remember about Connie’s brief lessons, her balance was pretty good. That was a plus, right? 

Greg rushed forward with her, and they both swung for Aquamarine. 

The pixie grinned and danced out of the way of their swings. She held her wand out, ready to take aim at them. She started flying higher, but a sword from behind bonked her on top of her head. She was forced closer to the ground, the Rutile Twins grinning happily. Greg hadn’t even noticed them moving. 

He focused on Aquamarine again, who was now flanked. She pointed her wand at the Twins, who were caught in the glow instantly, and she flung them against a far wall. They hit it harshly, dropping their sword to the ground. Their shield stayed on, though, as they were now laying on it awkwardly.

With the Twins out of the way, there was nothing stopping the smaller gem from fluttering up and out of harm’s reach. She now pointed her wand at the two humans, freezing them in place.

Connie saw this, but for some reason, she didn’t react. She was still locked head-to-head with Lavender. She kept her gaze solidly on her opponent, ducking under another strike and reaching up to try and jab her under her arm. Lavender stepped out of the way, and Connie’s sword slid through air. 

“You ‘umans have no fighting experience, do you?” Aquamarine asked them, fluttering closer. Greg, who was stuck in an unbalanced position, tried to stand up straighter, battling against the weird freeze-beam of hers. It felt like he was frozen in carbonite (was that a gem type around here?), unable to move at all. It was harder to breathe, too, like something pressing in on him from all sides. “It’s adorable, really.” Aqua moved to pat Greg’s cheek, but thought better of it, settling to place her hand on her own cheek instead. “You all think you can just get what you want by demanding it, don’t you?”

Connie’s anger at this gem was really beginning to make sense. She seemed to know exactly just how to get under the skin. Or maybe, Greg was already mad at her, and everything she was saying just fueled that fire. Both were likely. 

She stopped to watch the show, and out of the corner of Greg’s eyes, he could see Lavender and Connie still battling. The teen was really holding her own, and the two danced around each other like they’d been sparring for years. Lavender swung downwards at Connie’s head. Connie dodged by getting closer and off to Lavender’s side. She tried to run her sword through the bigger gem on the way by. Lavender flung her body backward, out of reach. Repeat.

Sudden footsteps and a heavy  _ “Oof!” _ behind him told Greg that Bismuth just landed, meaning Lapis wasn’t far behind. As if on cue, the water gem swept past his left and flung herself at Lavender, using her wings to knock the unsuspecting gem back a few feet. Lavender scowled as Lapis gave an equally hard look to her. 

Aquamarine grumbled. “You Crystal Gems don’t know when to give up, do you?” She waved her wand, releasing Greg and Dr. Maheswaran, both of whom fell unceremoniously to the ground. Greg landed hard on his back, but rushed to get back up. However, before he could do much else besides sit up, the beam hit him again, freezing him in place. He was lucky enough to be sitting in a position where he could see everyone else, and it seemed that Aqua had frozen everyone directly in front of her, except Lavender Alexite, who was standing off to the side a few feet away. Connie was frozen mid-attack.

She tsked, fluttering forward. “You know, A Connie, you are really good with that sword, I will admit that. But, it wasn’t good enough!” She giggled again (it was starting to get annoying, actually), and started flying away.

Much to Greg’s surprise, they all began going  _ with _ her into the sky. His heart lurched at the sudden loss of ground, and he involuntarily let out a shout of alarm. He heard the others do the same. 

Aquamarine didn’t care about them enough to go slowly, and when she turned around, they were whipped around her at twice the speed. Greg felt his heart beginning to race. This couldn’t be happening. They had to get to Steven before it was too late; getting captured was probably the worst thing that could happen right now! 

They went backwards on their progress, Aqua flying them back to the shipyard they had originally landed in. A warp pad went off somewhere inside, followed by rapid footsteps. She brought them into a section full of bigger ships than the blue ship they’d flown in on, and brought them to a black ship shaped like a teardrop. A wide one. Greg didn’t recognise it, but Connie must have with the sharp inhale he heard from her. Was that the ship they were originally captured in? 

Aquamarine entered first after Lavender opened the door for her. She brought the frozen crowd in with her, followed up by the guard gem. Lavender then ran ahead, and after stomping a light blue spot on the floor, a box appeared, rising up from the floor. The group was brought inside before they were finally dropped. Before anyone could move to escape, Aqua had hit a button off to the left of the door (Greg’s right), and a blue field appeared. Light cascaded down it like a waterfall, though it hummed like electricity.

“There,” Aqua grinned, placing her hands on her hips. “Now we can get going!” She giggled once more before disappearing up on what appeared to be a floating chair in the center of the room, but high up.

Lavender crossed her arms, turning her back to the prisoners, but not moving from her position in guarding them. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to, either. 

This went about as poorly as it could have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is already written, no worries! I just need to proof it for a moment, and then it'll be posted too! 
> 
> I HAD A REASON FOR THIS, I SWEAR-


	13. Can you don't? We're in the middle of a mission here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing tip: go to Mechvibes and get it, then make the sound a typewriter. It elevates the writing experience to new heights.
> 
> oh yeah things are going wrong I guess

_ It had been spring, sometime in late April or early May. May sounded right. Steven was sitting off to her left, staring out at the water as he spoke. He tried to look as relaxed as he could, but Connie could see through the tenseness in his shoulders. He was stressed, and doing a relatively poor job at hiding it. _

_But, she didn’t care about that right this moment. Right now, all her attention was on what he was saying, and the implications of what he meant. Captured and taken into space. He had been imprisoned in a jail cell of yellow light, which did nothing to him except cause yellow lines to appear on his arms, while the gems got zapped if they touched it. Wanted because his mom was a war criminal, and they thought he was her. The ship crashing to the ground. Jasper and Lapis fusing into Malachite, and then disappearing into the ocean together as a self-made prisoner of Lapis. Garnet was a_ ** _fusion._** _Peridot escaped and was somewhere on Earth._

_ It was a lot to take in. But, she wouldn’t fall apart on him- she’d promised that. Besides, it wasn’t like it was her in danger. But, she knew she wanted to help him alleviate that stress as much as she could. If there was anything she could do to help, she was willing, all electric cells and scary fusions aside. She  _ **_wanted_ ** _ to help. _

_ She already knew that there was very little she wouldn’t do to help this kid. She just needed to figure out how to help him now. _

* * *

That had been so long ago now. 

Connie glared at the Lavender Alexite guarding their cell, wishing she could poof her. She still had her sword, as did everyone else here, but she knew she couldn’t just rush out there. They needed a plan.

“Well? What do we do now?” Lapis whispered to Bismuth. “We can’t go through the barrier.” A darkness covered her eyes. “Believe me on that one.”

_ Steven could, _ Connie recalled. She frowned, getting an idea. “Okay, this isn’t great, but I have a plan,” she spoke softly, looking back to make sure the Alexite didn’t hear. If she did, she didn’t react. Everyone else turned to her, waiting for her to continue. “Steven told me that back when he got kidnapped the first time, all the Crystal Gems were placed in cells just like this, but with yellow instead of blue blocking the entrance.” She gestured to the forcefield keeping them trapped. “Now, if any of the gems touched it, they would get zapped. However,” she smiled, “Steven was perfectly fine.”

Dr. Maheswaran’s eyes widened. “Are you saying we could just... walk on out?”

Connie nodded. “Yes. But, we gotta be quick and take out that guard before she can realize we’re out, or else we’re toast.” She looked to Greg, who was glancing back and forth between her, the field, and Lavender, then she looked to her mom. “Once we’re free, we can work on freeing the gems.”

Dr. Maheswaran nodded. “Okay. That sounds like a plan. Can you handle this yourself, or do you need our help?”

“I think I can do this,” she replied, “but if I can’t, you need to be ready to help me, too.”

The two adults looked at each other, and when each nodded, they looked back to Connie. “Okay, we’re right behind you,” Greg said softly. He looked about ready to collapse from stress, but the determination never left his eyes. It was admirable. 

Connie smiled. She walked forward, sitting right next to the edge of the cell. The others sat down, too, making it look like they’d given up. Lavender noticed the movement and glanced back at them, before smiling in victory. Connie shoved down the urge to grin at her. The more Lavender’s guard was down, the better.

The ship lurched, signaling that Aqua was lifting them off the ground. They were running out of time, and fast. Lavender looked up in Aqua’s direction, wondering what was going on up there.

Her guard could not go lower. Quickly, Connie stood and ran forward. Her grip around the hilt of the sword tightened, and she launched herself at Lavender’s backside.

The larger gem had heard the footsteps, but barely got a chance to  _ start _ turning around before the blade cut through her form. Her cape flapped a bit as she shifted forward on instinct. She let out a shout of surprise. Connie’s sword was lodged just under Lavender’s gem, which was located right between her shoulder blades. It was a blue-ish purple color, cut similar to an amethyst, but Connie ignored it for now. Now, she was focused on poofing her as quickly as possible.

“Oh, what  _ now?” _ Aqua leaned over the side, looking down to see why Lavender had made that noise. Her eyes widened. “WHAT?! How did you get out?”

Connie began to panic. She pulled the sword out, hoping it was enough to poof her. Unfortunately, Lavender spun around, angry at the teen. Connie gripped her sword harder, and made to duck around her, like she had been doing before. Lavender expected her to follow through, but instead, Connie flung herself the other way. Lavender’s left shoulder was facing her now. Grinning, Connie took her chance to slash again, and once again caught the Alexite off-guard. 

_ That _ did it. With one final cry, Lavender poofed, her gem falling to the ground. Connie rushed to pick it up, wanting to make sure she couldn’t reform. It did look just like an amethyst gem, except much clearer and a lighter color. Connie slipped through the barrier and gave it to the nearest gem for her to bubble.

Once Bismuth was done with that, Connie ran out again, this time with her mother and Greg. All three humans watched as Aquamarine flew down to them, staying just out of reach of their swords. She was  _ furious. _

“How did you disrupt her form?!” Aqua shouted. “You shouldn’t even be able to get out of there!”

Connie grinned. “We’re full of surprises.”

The mini water gem growled, reaching up for the wand on her head. Connie saw it coming, and ran to a different part of the ship. “SPLIT UP,” she yelled. 

Greg and Priyanka did the same, rushing to two equidistant places away. The three humans formed a triangle of sorts, surrounding the gem. 

Aqua looked between them frantically. “What are you doing?” She pointed her wand at Connie. “Get back in the cell!”

Connie was hit, frozen still as Aqua’s beam hit her. She, however, was expecting this- she would have smiled if she could. She was going to be just fine...

...because her mom and Greg were both still free.

Greg was the first to move, sensing the pattern that Connie had picked up on. He rushed forward towards Aquamarine, sword poised to try and strike her out of the air. The gem saw him coming, and released her hold on Connie to freeze him instead. This gave Priyanka and Connie both chances to move as well, and they closed in rapidly. 

Aqua was beginning to see what they were doing. She flew up higher, and flung Greg in the direction of the cell. He landed with an  _ “Oof!” _ but didn’t appear to be hurt. He scrambled back to his feet, moving to circle.

Connie saw what he was doing. Moving targets were harder to hit. She started the same, going in the same direction as Greg to ensure they stayed equally distant apart. Priyanka picked up on this a moment later, and they began to spiral inwards.

The gem was now at least 10 feet in the air, looking between them all rapidly. “What are you three going to do, exactly?” She asked, feigning cockiness. “Last I checked, ‘umans can’t fly. How are you going to reach me?”

That was a good point. None of them slowed their walk, but Connie did stop getting closer, opting to just circle instead. They needed to get something to help pull her out of the air.

“Hey, guys!” Bismuth’s voice broke through her own thoughts. “You gonna let us help you, or...?”

_ Duh! _ Connie grinned, beginning to back up, spiraling outward now. The two adults did the same, making it harder to guess which of them would get to the cell first. 

Aqua scowled. “NO! Nobody is going anywhere!” She shot her beam towards Priyanka, since she was the closest to the cell in that moment. Connie took the opportunity to run, since she had to backtrack, meaning she was coming in from the opposite direction. They were still spaced far apart enough that Aqua couldn’t just freeze them all.

Aqua saw this, and hastily threw Priyanka more towards Greg so she could freeze Connie. The girl couldn’t do much to protest, even though she did try to dodge, and was caught. A quick flick of the wrist from Aqua sent her barreling towards the door.

She pushed herself up fast, making sure to tighten her grip on the sword. There were a set of stairs nearby that lead downwards, by the look of it. Maybe there was something down there that could help? This wasn’t getting them anywhere. So, she resumed her circling, hoping to get close enough to make a dash for it. 

All three humans continued to circle. Aqua froze them if they got too close to the cell, throwing them away from it, but that was fine by Connie. The stairs were on the way there; Aqua wouldn’t be expecting her to use them, more than likely.

It took a moment, but when she got there, she was able to just walk down them. She kept her pace the same, and even though Aqua could probably see her out of the corner of her eye, she didn’t notice as Connie melted into the floor. Her wand froze someone, making the perfect distraction for Connie as she ran down the rest of the steps as quietly as she could manage. 

At the bottom, she found what appeared to be an engine? It looked like a blue ball with multiple blue tubes coming off of it, extending into the walls of the ship. It was more than likely a power supply. Then, on either side of it, sat a row of three blue bars. They halved and spiked up at the tips, with a little blue, circular crystal in the center. 

What were those? 

Connie ran forward, picking one up and admiring how surprisingly light-weight it felt. What was it for? Was it a weapon? Well, whatever it was, it was perfect for knocking Aqua out of the sky with, she reasoned.

“WHERE IS THE CONNIE?!” the gem yelled from upstairs. She sounded more frantic than mad, which was saying something since there was still a  _ lot  _ of malice in her tone. Connie looked up at the noise, then glanced back at the weapon in her hands.  _ This will work. _

She ran back upstairs, but paused to peak over the top. Aqua was facing away from her, looking towards the door. Greg was thrown into the opposing wall of the cell, and Priyanka was currently frozen in the gem’s beam. This was the perfect moment.

Connie jumped up the rest of the steps over the edge, and with no fanfare at all, she threw the wrench-thing as hard as she could. It soared through the air, the blunt end of it hitting Aqua square in the back. She cried out in alarm and pain, and dropped a few feet out of the sky. She was about 7 feet. That was almost enough- Greg might be able to reach her if he tried. 

The gem spun around, glaring at Connie. “THERE you are,” she announced, dropping Priyanka. She pointed the wand at her now. “You’ve caused me  _ enough _ trouble! Stop fighting and stand down!”

Priyanka was on her feet fast. She ran over to where the blue wrench-thing landed, picking it up. It was now her turn to throw it. Aqua was only about a foot and a half away, so it didn’t take much effort. 

She was struck with one of the two points this time. 

“YAAAAAA!” She cried out, electricity crackling as she started dropping onto the ground. Her water wings disappeared behind her. 

Priyanka, shocked, stepped away on instinct, letting it drop back to the floor again. Besides, Connie wouldn’t want her mother poofing Aquamarine anyway, not with her oath. She technically already broke it just then (but these weren’t humans, so Connie was sure people would let this slide...?). 

Connie started running forward, ready to finish the job, but Greg was faster. He arrived, scooped it up quickly. “Aquamarine,” he began, holding it up threateningly, “this is for kidnapping my son!” The destabilizer jabbed into the pixie’s side again. Aqua’s wand dropped to the ground as she screamed. Then, with one last glare in Connie’s direction, the blue gem poofed. The explosion knocked the two adults back a bit with the blast, and her small, teardrop-shaped gem clinked to the ground.

Greg panted, dropping the weapon as he took a few steps back.

Priyanka scooped it up quickly, looking at it. “I still have a lot to learn about gems,” she murmured under her breath. 

Greg, who looked startled by his own actions, chuckled nervously in agreement. “Me too.”

Connie decided not to run to them, then, and instead rushed to the cell. The button was apparently part of the wall, and at the touch of her finger, the field... stayed exactly the same. She pushed it again, but to no effect.

“Well. That’s nice.” Lapis deadpanned from in the cell. “All of that and we  _ still _ can’t get out.” 

“Well, at least we poofed Aquamarine,” Connie supplied, smiling happily. She needed that, though she was somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t her who had poofed the annoyance. “Steven will probably be relieved to hear that, too.”

Sighing, Connie made her way back towards the cell. She was about to go through, but a look at the cascading field made her pause. It was falling  _ down. _ Was that just an effect, or was the field actually going in that direction?

She reached out a finger, touching the forcefield. Sure enough, a clear path was made underneath of it, meaning that the field was being interrupted. 

The gems inside gasped. “Connie, you’re... stopping the flow?” Bismuth wondered. 

“She can do that?” the Right Rutile town asked.

“That’s possible?” the Left added.

Getting an idea, Connie turned sideways into the field. She leaned forward, then stretched her arms out. The field hit her arms and halted, creating a small opening beneath her. She smiled to herself. Awesome.

Before she could move to do much else, Lapis had shot out from under her and was next to the wall. She placed her hand on the button, and the field shut down.

“Way ta  _ GO, _ Connie!” Bismuth cheered as she rushed back out. 

The teen grinned, then giggled as the blacksmith rubbed at her head, mussing up her hair a bit. Bismuth had a grin worth a million bucks, and when she flashed it at you, you felt like you were worth everything. Connie’s heart swelled with pride at the sight of it.

Lapis flew up to Aqua’s chair, and the group could hear her fiddling with the buttons as little beeps cut through the air softly. “Hey, I think I can fly this thing,” she called out. “We haven’t left the atmosphere yet; we should be able to get closer much faster now!”

Bismuth and Connie cheered. “Thank you, Aquamarine!” Connie exclaimed, laughing at the irony of it. She wanted to take them away; instead, she brought them closer to their goal.

“Oh thank goodness,” Greg sighed in relief nearby, leaning his head back.

With both gems bubbled by Bismuth, the ship under their control, and the gems not suspecting this particular ship to be flying overhead, they had a clear way to Steven now. Who knew all you had to do was get captured to make things easier?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give the humans a chance to shine. Part 1 of that, lol. Don't worry, though, Bis, Lapis, and the Twins aren't just here. I have plans. ;)
> 
> Back to Lars' group in the next chapter!
> 
> If anything sounded weird in here, let me know! I'm not 100% confident with it, so if you liked it, please let me know aha.


	14. Meanwhile...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title: Hollapearlooza
> 
> You decide which one is better lol

Doug, admittedly, felt like he hadn’t done a whole lot recently. Yes, they were making great strides in spreading the word, and with their gem ally, who Lars nicknamed “Freckles,” more and more gems were starting to believe them and see their cause. According to Freckles. Because the gems the humans all met were much more stubborn, and it didn’t take a genius to guess why.

They flew low over the crowds now, watching as word made its way along beneath them. They had about 50 gems on their side, give or take, though their 50% ratio had fallen spectacularly. That was okay, though- they didn’t need  _ everyone, _ just a  _ lot. _ 50 might just cut it, actually.

Though, the more the merrier, so Peridot continued to pilot the ship closer and closer to the chanting, which was becoming evident to be sourced from the Diamond palace. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was yet to be revealed, but Lars held hope that if they were gathered there, then they might be looking for their Diamonds, which will make them more likely to believe their story, human or not.

But Doug hadn’t done much. For the most part, he sat back against the wall, looking out the window. Barb was the loudest and most firm in the room, Sadie was Barb but nicer, Jenny was the one who pointed out the flaws in the gem’s stories about what they heard happened to the Diamonds, Sour Cream was support for everyone else, Peridot was the one who helped to bring gems over just by showing up, and Lars was the one who always seemed to know exactly what to say to counter someone else’s argument. Doug was... well, he tried to interject, following Lars’ example, but they never seemed to listen to him.

He hadn’t given up by any means, but he was really starting to feel out of place here.

Looking out the window once again, Doug scanned the now  _ thousands  _ of gems he could see under him. No longer were they all upper-class elite gems, but now gems of all make, model, build, and position were here, chanting for their Diamond to return. A group of Rubies nearby had even started singing, and surprisingly well, much to the surrounding crowd’s dismay.

Everyone was shouting. It was hard to think. Plus, with Barb, Lars, and Sadie all shouting back down at them, it was hard to make anything out. Bits and pieces of words flowed in through the door, creating a mixed web of tangled conversation.

“...been two days, almost three...!”

“...ever coming back?”

“...heard the rejuvenation station is back onl...”

“...missed my appointment with...”

“...hasn’t been used for thousands of years!...”

“Where are the Diamonds? When will...?”

“...patient, they’ll come back...”

“Blue!”

“Yellow!”

“My Diamond!”

“My Diamond!”

Waving hands caught his attention. Looking up towards the door of the palace, Doug saw three thin gems standing together, all relatively the same height. Their pale complexions and pointed noses reminded him instantly of Pearl, and as the ship grew steadily closer, he felt it safe to guess that the three gems he saw were, in fact, alternate pearls. One was yellow, and very animated. One was blue and seemed to be shy. The last was pink, with a crack on the side of her face and a hopeful, scared expression. All three of them were trying to get people’s attention, though no one was paying any attention to them. 

“Hey Lars,” Doug called. The young man in question turned to him, and after realizing that Doug was looking at something out the window, he wandered over to see what exactly Doug was looking at. The older man pointed to the pearls. “Look. Do you think those pearls would be on our side?”

Lars hummed, narrowing his eyes at them as he studied. “Might be worth a shot. Peridot, you see those three pearls? Bring us closer.”

“Affirmative.” The ship turned slowly to the right, approaching the three pearls directly now. It took a moment, but they were soon in ear’s reach of them. 

“...and we need your help,” the pink one was shouting. “Please, we can’t do this on our own! Everyone,  _ please!” _

“P01, look!” The yellow one gasped, pointing to their ship. “I think I see humans on that ship!”

“Humans?” The pink one with the cracked eye looked at them. “What’s a-” She saw them, more than likely noting the peridot in the driver’s seat, and then cleared her throat nervously.

Doug stood up and headed for the door, Lars not far behind him. “Peri, spin us around,” Lars commanded. Sadie and Barb backed up a bit, allowing them to stand at the ship’s entrance as it spun around. They were both met with wide eyes as the three pearls realized they wanted to talk to them specifically. “Hey! You three!” Lars called out, leaning forward. “We’d like to talk to you for a minute!”

“Um, okay?” The pink one, who appeared to be leading whatever mini rally these gems were trying to hold, looked back to her friends to make sure this was okay. They didn’t really react, so she stepped forward. The ship lowered towards them, allowing all three to climb inside. Then, the ship lifted off again, safely into the sky and away from a good, large portion of the gems who weren’t fond of humans on Homeworld. 

“Hello,” Lars greeted. “I’m Lars, and this is my crew.” He gestured to everyone else in the ship. “We know what happened to your Diamonds.”

“We do, too,” the pink pearl stated. “White Diamond, right?”

“Yes, exactly!” Lars threw his hands up in the air happily. “I think you’re the first ones who  _ haven’t _ started an argument with us about this!”

“That sounds just about right,” the yellow one grumbled. “The gems here are very... how do I put this... judgemental?”

“No kidding,” Doug muttered, rubbing at the back of his head. 

Lars took a step forward. “We’re trying to get a group together to go rescue them. Would you three be interested in joining?”

“Oh, stars, no!” Yellow and Pink Pearl said at the same time. Blue Pearl rubbed at one of her arms and glanced away awkwardly.

“Us? Fighting Diamonds?” Pink Pearl giggled nervously. “I can’t even imagine!”

“That idea is just preposterous!” Yellow Pearl exclaimed.

Doug shook his head, stepping forward. “We’re not going to fight her,” he said. “We just want to overwhelm her. She can’t control everyone, and if enough gems tell her that they’ve had enough, she’ll  _ have _ to listen to us.”

“We have a large amount of gems on our side already,” Lars supplied. “I think we have enough now. But, we could always use more.”

The three looked at each other hopefully before Pink Pearl looked back to Lars. “Okay, I think we’re in, then. But, how did you know about the Diamonds?”

“We had witnesses.” Lars stepped out of the way (as was routine by now) so Peridot could get out of her chair and introduce herself. 

“Hello!” she waved at them, before turning serious again. “I saw it myself. Pink Diamond just wanted to heal a bunch of corrupted gems back on Earth, and needed the other three Diamond’s assistance in doing so. So, he persuaded Yellow and Blue to help, but when they went to talk to White, she took control of all three of them, and all the other gems that he had brought to help.”

Peridot calling Steven “Pink Diamond” was a new occurrence, and one no one was happy with, especially not her. All early gems they spoke to pretty much clocked out when they heard his real name, and they only responded to the term “Pink Diamond.” Which is technically what Steven was. They were sure he’d understand if he’d ask about it, but that didn’t make it feel any better. 

Yellow Pearl brought a hand up to her chin. “The other gems? How many other gems would there be up there?”

“Blue and Yellow Diamond,” Lars recounted, tallying the gems off on his fingers, “Pearl, Amethyst, a fusion between a Ruby and a Sapphire named ‘Garnet,’ and Pink himself.”

Yellow Pearl hummed in thought, while Pink Pearl let out a small giggle. “Her name is Steven, actually. She asked me not to call her Pink.”

The humans’ mouths fell open. “You know about that?” Sadie said with awe. “Most gems stop listening when they hear his real name.”

“‘His’?” Pink Pearl blinked her eye. “She uses ‘his’? How does that work?”

Doug grinned. “He, him, his, instead of she, her, hers. He’s a boy.”

The three pearls looked at each other, confused at what a “boy” was, but not looking to press for it. They had more important things to talk about. “We’ll... try to remember that,” Blue Pearl murmured. 

Hearing gems actually respect Steven enough to try and make this kind of effort to change their speech was  _ incredible. _ Doug found he couldn’t wipe the grin off his face even if he tried very hard (which he did, because it was time to get serious again).

“Okay, back to it,” he began, placing a hand on his hip. “White has control over six or seven gems, depending on if she split Garnet up.”

“That sounds like it would be quite a lot for White to handle,” Pink Pearl commented. “All three Diamonds, and a few more gems? She must be straining herself.”

A thought struck Doug, which made his whole body freeze. “You don’t think she’d try to... lighten the load at all, do you?” He wrung his hands together.

“Huh?” Yellow Pearl cocked her head a bit. “What do you mean?”

“You don’t think White would stop controlling the Crystal Gems in order to help her powers out, do you?” Doug looked at Lars, who’s face had paled considerably at that. “If she did, then they could be anywhere. She’d certainly not let them go.”

Pink Pearl looked to her fellow pearls, but found no answers there. “I’m... not sure, but it is a likely possibility.” 

Peridot leaped up from her seat again, running over to the pearls. “WHAT PUNISHMENTS ARE WHITE FOND OF?” She had a stricken expression, horror etched along her features. “She wouldn’t shatter them, would she?!”

Pink Pearl backed up a hair to give the green gremlin a bit more room. “I mean, maybe? If she thought they deserved it. Though, more than likely, she’d use rejuvenation.”

Doug’s brows raised. He thought he heard something like that filter in through the door a few times while they had been hovering over the crowd. A few gems had been talking about it, then.

“Oh, stars, you were out for 8,000 years,” Yellow Pearl chided. “No one uses the rejuvenators anymore, silly.”

“Huh?” Pink Pearl turned fully to her friend, the humans forgotten for the time being. “Why not? It’s very efficient.”

“For preserving resources, yes,” Yellow Pearl’s expression turned grave. “However, the rejuvenation process is not very good. You see, after a while, the effects begin to wear off, and gems would become defective again.”

“Oh.” Pink Pearl paled. “Is... is there an alternative?”

“Either intense work under close supervision, or shattering.”

While Pink Pearl mulled this over, looking more frightened by the second, Lars came up and tapped Yellow Pearl’s shoulder. “Uhh, what is rejuvenation, exactly?” he asked. “We’ve never heard of that.”

Yellow Pearl looked at him closely. “It was an effective way to make gems fall back into line,” she explained. She suddenly reminded Doug very clearly of the Crystal Gem Pearl, with the way she just  _ adopted _ the air of a teacher instantly. “It would bring them back to the way they were originally made, as if they had just popped out of the ground. However,” she placed a hand on her chest, on her gem, for emphasis, “it wasn’t enough. Some gems began to recover memories after doing the same things they did before. It is not a permanent solution, and hasn’t been used in eons.”

Everyone thought about this. It wasn’t likely, then, that White would rejuvenate the gems. But, Doug couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that he’d  _ heard _ gems talking about it. If it hadn’t been used in years, then why would anyone mention it now? And, the fact that there were so many voices all at once, and he’d heard it at least twice, had to mean that many gems were talking about it, which made it even stranger. His brows furrowed. He stepped closer towards Yellow Pearl, uncertainty coiled around his heart. 

“I heard a couple of gems mention something about rejuvenation before,” he said. “I was just listening to the crowd, and I heard it at least twice.”

Yellow and Blue Pearl both looked struck. “Are you sure?” Yellow asked. “There would be no reason to mention it, unless it was about to be...” Her eyes widened in surprise. “What all did you hear?”

“Bits and pieces.” He frowned in thought, trying to remember the exact wording. “I heard something about a rejuvenation station.”

All three pearls looked at each other frantically. “That means it must be turning on,” Pink Pearl gasped. “Only the Diamonds have the authority to rejuvenate anyone, meaning that White must have activated it again!”

Peridot dove into the driver’s seat. “EVERYBODY HANG ON!” she screeched. “We’re going to the rejuvenation station!”

The ship sped up from its light idle immediately, shooting off across the planet and away from the crowds, hoping to  _ maybe _ reach it in time, before it was too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :)
> 
> EDIT: So, the next chapter might take more time to come out, since I actually want to write two of them before deciding which to release first. I think we'll just continue with the story, but I wanna experiment first and make sure that's what I want before I do it.
> 
> Shouldn't be too long of a wait, but I just thought I'd tell y'all anyways, just in case aha.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Sorry not sorry for the cliffhanger! :)


	15. Human Heist

The ship zipped across the sky, the crowd forgotten. If their hunch was correct, that meant that at least one of the Crystal Gems were about to be completely reset back to zero. Doug cringed, wondering if it was like amnesia for humans, or maybe something else. Priyanka surely would have had some theories, had she been here.

“So, when you mean some gems can come back,” Sadie was saying, causing Doug to turn back to her just a bit, “do you mean it wears off after a while, or does something cause it?”

“It’s unclear what exactly happens,” Yellow Pearl replied. Everyone on board was sitting down now, mostly in a circle with a few stragglers, like Doug, who was sitting by the window again. “The working theory is that certain events or gems trigger the memories to come back.”

“That’s good then!” Barb shouted happily. “Even if they get reset, we can just introduce them to each other, and they’ll be good as new!”

“I’m afraid that’s not how it works.” Yellow Pearl shook her head. “It takes a while, and usually, the gem will have to have been working for a few hundred years first.”

“Oh.” Barb folded in on herself. “So we gotta be fast, huh?”

“Affirmative.” Peridot spoke up from the driver’s seat. “The sooner we get there, the better. I remember a gem getting her memories back once- it was only a couple hundred years after I emerged- and I wasn’t sure at the time what happened. She just suddenly glowed, and was a completely different person. Then, she was captured, and I never saw her again.” The green gem shuddered. “I didn’t think much of it at the time, but now...”

Doug frowned. They all knew what that probably meant.

Outside, gems and buildings alike zipped by at rapid speeds. Apparently, there was only one rejuvenation station still standing on Homeworld, and it was a few facets away. Whatever a ‘facet’ was. Peridot seemed to know where she was going, so Doug didn’t ask, but he imagined it had to be some kind of unit of measurement to gems. A mile, maybe? Well, maybe more than a mile- they’d been traveling at what appeared to be 80 miles per hour for the past twenty minutes, so it had to be more.

“Hang on, we’re almost there!” Peri announced. She pushed down on a button, and the ship started to lower itself closer to the ground. 

Doug gripped his sword. He didn’t know the gems well, but he did know they were good people. Steven’s caretakers. They’d raised him well enough- he was one of the sweetest kids Doug had ever met- and he wanted to get up and  _ do _ something about it. He could finally be more than just a security officer. Now was his chance to go and do something important.

It took a few moments to land, but as soon as the ship did, Doug was racing for the door. They were running against the clock here, and they had to be fast. He was second out of the ship, right behind Barb, then followed quickly by Sadie, Jenny, Sour Cream, Lars, Peridot, and the three pearls. 

The blue one was the last out, and she wound up backing up. “I think I’ll stay here,” she announced softly. “Someone needs to watch the ship.”

“Good idea, B01!” Yellow Pearl called back, the only reason any of them had heard the blue gem at all. “You stay here and tend the ship, and we’ll be back as soon as we can!”

As soon as they started running again, Doug heard the door of the ship slide shut.

The building itself was not large. It was colored a soft grey color, lighter than most of the buildings in the area, but still dark enough to put everyone on edge. It was only a story tall, not meant for Diamonds to enter. In front stood two yellow gems. Lars growled from behind, “Topazes.”

The two guards had already spotted them as they had been landing, and when they saw the group headed their way, they pulled out their weapons. One of them held a thick, long sword, the other a sais. Their gems were located on her chest and the top of her head, respectively. 

“Hey! Halt!” The one with the hat-gem called, pointing her sais at the group. “No one is allowed to enter here without proper authorization!”

“Hasn’t stopped us before!” Lars grinned. “Weapons out, guys!”

Doug gripped his sword harder. Showtime.

The one with the sais yelled, and then both topazes rushed forward. Doug and Lars stood together, and silently agreed to take the same one on together. Top-Hat Topaz rushed at them, and they both blocked with their swords at the same time, creating an X formation. A sharp  _ clang! _ rang through the air. Topaz seemed surprised that they were defending at all, but the shocked look quickly faded to a frown. 

“I got the right, you take the left,” Lars commanded, rushing off to follow his own command.

“Right!” Doug moved to do the same, effectively flanking the gem.

She realized this. She started backing away, hoping to get both her opponents in front of her, but the humans just followed her. She glared. She swung her sais at Lars, who reached up to block. Seeing his chance, Doug swung for Topaz’s side, but her sais was already there blocking it. Doug recoiled a bit in surprise at how fast she was, only to swing again. Once again, the sais was there. She was giving Lars trouble, too, from the looks of things. 

“Come on!” Doug moved to swing for Topaz’s side, hoping to cheese her and swing for her head instead, but didn’t get the chance to follow through before Topaz had already blocked his original swing. He wasn’t fast enough- he needed more time to figure out how to pull this off.

Topaz’s head moved between the two guys fast, calculating in real time exactly where they were and what they were about to do. It was kinda amazing, actually, and Doug would have been in awe if he wasn’t fighting said gem at the moment. 

He watched her eye land on him, then dart back to Lars, then land on him, and back to Lars. The split second she wasn’t looking at him, he raised his sword, looking as if he were about to swing for her feet. She looked back over and saw this, moving her sais down to her legs to block. Then, she looked back at Lars. In that instant, Doug aimed his already-swinging sword up and swiped at her arm. Topaz looked over just in time to watch the tip of the weapon cut into her light form, and she cried out in alarm. 

Because of the distraction, Lars was able to land a hit on her side now. Her head whipped back to him, and she suddenly found herself overwhelmed. Doug saw his chance, and aimed for her exposed backside.

She turned her head over her shoulder to look at Doug, turning her whole body and raising her sais to block, but a strike from Lars at exactly that moment made her pause. His weapon had fully lodged in her front, just as Doug’s weapon shoved into her back.

The explosion from the poof sent wind though both of their hair.

The two humans looked at each other, staring and trying to catch their breath, before they both laughed. 

“AARG!” A frustrated yell from Sadie brought their attention to the other group. The two pearls were staying out of the fighting, watching from a small distance as Sadie, Barb, Jenny, and Sour Cream all tried to fight the same gem. This time, the gem was flanked everywhere, but she didn’t appear to be worried about Jenny and Sour Cream, who were not sinking their weapons enough to cause any real damage. Instead, she was focused on Barb and Sadie, who were standing next to each other, making their attacks easier to block.

“Come on!” Lars commanded, rushing forward to help. Doug nodded, racing after him.

The other gem paid them no heed as they ran up behind her. Big mistake. One attack each from the two guys was enough to bring the other guard down. 

Everyone stood panting as they tried to catch their breath. Yellow Pearl bubbled this guard’s gem, while Pink Pearl bubbled the other. Both bubbles were left sitting outside the door, waiting to be discovered and popped.

“Everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?” Doug looked around at the party, and immediately noted the red blood stains on Sadie and Sour Cream. They both had gotten cut up a bit, but not enough to be fatal.

Sadie smiled awkwardly. “She was really fast,” the young adult commented.

“No worries, I gotcha.” Doug pulled his backpack off of his back, and fished around inside for the first aid kit. Sadie was already standing next to him when he brought it out, and sighed in relief as her arm was bandaged up. Sour Cream’s cut was across his face, and there wasn’t much to be done about that one, so he opted to just stop the bleeding, then leave it. Doug frowned, but didn’t push him.

“What? It makes me look cool,” SC commented, running a finger down the side of his face, just next to his would-be scar. 

“If you say so.” Doug stood back up, zipped up his bag, and slung it over his shoulder. “Now come on, we have some friends to save.”

Peridot was able to open the door, and the band moved in. 

The first thing they all noted was how dark it was. There were next to no lights on, and the lights that happened to be humming with life were dim. It reminded Doug of the emergency lights at the hospital. The inside was also colder then the outside, which was already cold enough, creating an uninviting atmosphere.

Stealth was key now. They had no idea how many gems were here, nor where they were, so if they could get through without a fight, that would be great. Peridot stopped by a panel every now and then to check their location in the dark building, setting them on a course to get to the containment area as fast as she could.

Naturally, it was in the back. So, they had a bit of a journey first.

The hallways were long, and the corridors many. It was a maze in here, and Peridot frowned as she tried to make sense of it all. The pearls were in the same boat, as they’d never been in here before. 

Peri’s gem glowed, forming a flashlight of sorts, as the pearls did the same, but stopped after a stern warning from Peridot. If they couldn’t keep the lights facing the floor, they had to go so they wouldn’t be detected. The group kept their eyes open, leaning around branching hallways before confirming that it was all clear up ahead. 

Strangely, there were no other gems in the facility. “Odd,” Peridot commented. “If this is the rejuvenation station, surely there would be gems all over the place.”

“Not necessarily,” Yellow Pearl replied. “The station hasn’t been on for a few thousand years. If it was turned on today, then only a few gems would be set to be reset at the most. Only one or two gems would be necessary, along with the guards out front.”

Peridot hummed. “That makes sense.”

“It’s kinda... freaky in here,” Jenny said, looking down some of the dark stretches of hallways. “Someone needs to turn on a few lights.”

“Agreed.” SC grabbed her hand. “Even one or two would be better than this.”

Doug felt a shiver run down his spine.

After a few minutes of walking and staying quiet, the group turned a corner and saw what appeared to be a prison bay. There were sections of wall separated from each other, making mini rooms. However, they were wide open, and anyone could walk in and out if they wanted to. 

“We’re getting close,” Peridot whispered. The light from her gem shut off. “Everyone be quiet.”

There were nods, and everyone slowed down to tip-toe. They passed by the containment cells, all with nothing inside of them, until they reached the end of the hall. It opened in a T shape, left or right. Down to the right, a soft yellow light glowed. Peridot rounded the corner first, then gasped. 

“I found them,” she whisper-yelled. “I think they’re all here!”

Doug felt his heart lighten. They were so close. Rounding the bend with Peridot presented more cells, but the three at the very end of the hallway were illuminated with a yellow light. It appeared to be a force field from a science fiction movie, actually. The humming of electricity intensified.

Though, the concerning part was the room at the end of the hallway. There was a black orb, but split in half and opened up. It was hollow inside. There were tapping noises, the same ones Peridot made when she clicked at a panel, and every now and then, footsteps. 

Another gem.

Doug brought a finger up to his mouth, looking at each member of their group intently. They got the message, SC making a zipping motion over his lips. Then, Doug signaled them forward, he and Lars walking together down the hallway.

The footsteps picked up again. Doug’s eyes widened, and he was about to move into a cell to his right, but Lars was faster, shoving him inside. There was light shuffling as everyone else did the same, everyone filing into the same cell together.

Doug dropped to the floor, peering out from behind the wall. He watched as a yellow gem, about the same size as Topaz, but a bit smaller, walked out of the room. She approached one of the cells, and began tapping at it. The forcefield disappeared, creating a gasp of shock from within. 

“C’mon, you, you first.”

“NO! I’m not going!” Amethyst’s voice shouted. She sounded strained and stressed. 

“You don’t have a choice, 8XM!” The yellow gem entered the cell, out of sight.

“Citrine,  _ please! _ You don’t haveta do this! I know you don’t want to!”

“That doesn’t matter!”

Lars growled. He ran out of the cell, ignoring the gasps and “Lars, no!”s behind him, and drew his sword. “HEY! LET HER GO!”

Doug ran out with him, drawing his own sword. The yellow gem- Citrine- still hadn’t reappeared, but it only took her a moment. When she walked out, she held Amethyst by the scruff of her neck, looking at the group intensely. 

“Amethyst!” a small, feminine voice called out. Doug faltered- that didn’t sound like anyone he recognized. Pearl, maybe? No, that didn’t sound right at all.

Lars must have felt the same, but he didn’t stop to figure it out. He pointed his sword dramatically at the yellow quartz, grinning with determination. “Let her and the others go, and we’ll go easy on you!”

Citrine blinked in confusion. “You? You’re... yer a human.”

“Yeah? And?” Sadie cocked her hip, looking at the gem smugly. “Didn’t stop us from taking out the guards by the front door.”

Citrine stiffened. “Wait...” She looked at Amethyst. “Friends of yours?”

“Y... yeah...” Amethyst was watching them all with wide eyes, her gaze lingering on their swords. “H-how in the  _ world _ did you lot get here?”

“It’s a loooong story,” Jenny smiled. “We’ll tell ya all about it on our way outta here.”

Amethyst looked up at Citrine again. “They ain’t gonna hurt you, C,” she said softly, carefully. “You just gotta put me down, and we can all talk about this. Please, I know you don’t actually wanna do this.”

Citrine’s eyes darted around the room. She looked conflicted. Whatever Amethyst was saying was clearly having an impact on the gem. She blinked rapidly. “I...” Her free hand clenched. “I don’t...”

Doug’s breath caught in his throat. There might be a way to do this without fighting. They just had to find it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _hue hue hue..._
> 
> I already have the next chapter written! Stay tuned! In fact, by the time you're reading this, reload the page! It should be up!
> 
> Also: a sais is a type of weapon that looks like the destablizers from the show. In fact, they themselves might be saises! It splits into two prongs , goes out, then the prongs come back together at the tip, but not all the way. Think of Triton's trident from The Little Mermaid. It's that, but smaller, and without the prong in the middle.
> 
> K anyways. Hope you enjoyed!


	16. Amethyst

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter this time. 
> 
> Enjoy!

The last thing she remembered, she was in White’s head.

Amethyst had entered through the eye, along with Garnet, Pearl, and Steven. Their mission had been to talk to her, but White didn’t hear them out, like, at all. Every time Little Man tried to speak to her, she found a new way to cut him off, completely ignoring him. She went on a small tangent about each of the Diamonds she possessed, as they mimicked her every move.

“As for me,” she spoke, looking at Steven with knowing eyes, “I’m certain I don’t need you. After all, I’m every color of the light.” Her brows creased in mock sympathy, and her tone became wistful. “But you’re a part of me, the part I always have to repress.”

Amethyst glared hard at her.  _ What does SHE even know? _ the gem thought angrily. Repressing another gem? What did that even  _ mean? _

“What?!” Steven asked, clearly in the same boat.

Amethyst stalked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Dude, what is she even talking about? This is nonsense!”

Steven turned his head back around to her, and looked ready to respond before White- once again- cut him off. “Oh, hello there!” she greeted cheerily, overly so. “Your new friends are so funny.” The four gems watched as she closed her eyes, smiling in a soft, knowing,  _ cruel _ way. “Is that what they’re supposed to be? Funny?”

Then, her eyes opened. At once, Amethyst felt like she was under a spotlight. Everything else around her vision was blackened out by the sheer intensity of the light itself, which was racing towards her  _ fast. _ She had zero time to react before White Diamond’s mind control beam hit her, impacting her gem first before spreading to the rest of her body.

The purple gem screamed as she felt every limb seize up. She was shaking, yet she couldn’t move. She was held suspended in mid-air, helpless. Every second of it was torture. Something in her gem began to change and shift-  _ White is doing something to me, what is it, what did she do, why can’t I MOVE?- _ but Amethyst couldn’t tell what exactly it was. It felt something akin to what she’d imagine amnesia felt like to a human, except she still had all of her memories. It was like... her thoughts were being restrained somehow? Like, put through a filter? Except she was still able to think clearly (or she imagined she would be, if she wasn’t focused on being literally burned by White’s gaze). It was a weird way to explain it, for sure, but also a very strange phenomenon to go with it.

When it was over, she dropped to the ground. That weird feeling was still there, like someone had flipped a switch off in her gem, but she didn’t have time to worry about that. She was strong- she was  _ strong-willed,  _ she’d proven that before- and she overcame whatever that mind beam did to the Diamonds. She still felt like herself, and she was going to  _ use _ that.

“Hey White... dirtwad!” she panted, trying to get her breathing under control again. “That all you got?” She glared up at the gem, expecting to see surprise on White’s face from Amethyst’s strong will, but instead she just saw a smirk. A knowing, cold smirk, as if White had expected this to happen.

Then, too, that weird amnesia-but-not feeling intensified in her gem. “Huh?” She looked down at it, noting with horror that her gem was no longer it’s beautiful purple color- instead, it had become washed out, like someone had run it through a black and white filter from the 1930’s. Worse yet was when that numb feeling began to spread outward, coating her chest and arms. She sat up immediately, watching as the colorless river began to completely engulf her.

“Oh, no!” she heard Steven gasp, though she couldn’t see him from where she was at. Was he moving closer?

“Ahh... AHHH!” It reached up and over the top of her head, then just after, it hit the tips of her fingers and her feet. She couldn’t feel any part of her body whatsoever, and her vision was starting to wobble.

The last thing she saw before the lights went out completely was that  _ horrible smirk _ from White, watching...  _ condescendingly _ as Amethyst succumbed to her power. She didn’t even have it in her to be offended by the gesture, nor to know that she definitely would be mad later- she just simply collapsed.

When she woke up, she was still laying on the floor.

Her hair laid around her like a blanket, covering her shoulders and cascading down her back. Her head rested on an arm, but not comfortably so. Her legs were tangled, and she felt like she’d been torn apart and stitched back together again. Not to mean that it hurt- but the points where the needles had dug in were numb. Everywhere was numb. Though, after a few seconds, feeling began to return to her. Still no pain, fortunately, but she still felt something was wrong.

She groaned, moving to sit up, before everything hit her. Steven, White, the possession beam! She gasped, sitting upright quickly and scrambling to her feet.

She was still in White’s head, and White was still towering over her. Yellow and Blue Diamond were both still possessed, and all three were looking at her in an eerie, almost ghost-like way. Or maybe that was just the greyscale. Who knew.

“Now then, dear, let’s decide what to do with you,” White continued, as though she had been having a talk with Amethyst the entire time. “An off-color like you ought to be broken just for being that way, but I’m not sure about that just yet. After all, you are a good friend of our dearest Pink, are you not?”

Amethyst blinked owlishly up at her, still trying to piece together what had happened. She remembered being here with the other Crystal Gems. Her head whipped around to the sides, searching for them behind her, but they were not there. She gulped in panic, but the fear quickly turned to anger. She rounded back on White. “WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?” she demanded, taking a few daring steps closer. Her hands clenched into fists by her sides. “WHAT DID YOU DO to... them...?” 

She trailed off. In front of her stood two more figures, bleached- Garnet and Pearl. They both wore the same, stupid smile that White was wearing, their eyes blank and cold, heartless. Their arms stretched out to their sides, constantly T-posing-  _ T-posing to assert dominance _ . 

At any other time, Amethyst would have laughed at her own joke, but this time, she just froze. Well, Garnet did say that all comedy was derived from fear, didn’t she? Amethyst finally understood that now.

“Now now, dear, let’s not raise our voice,” White cooed, drawing Amethyst’s attention back to her immediately. “They will be dealt with all in good time.”

_ Dealt with? _ Amethyst once again felt fire burn inside of her. “Where’s Steven!? What did you  _ do _ to him?”

“My my, someone has a temper,” White commented. 

Amethyst’s glare only hardened.  _ She’s still ignoring us! _ “We didn’t do anything wrong! We just wanted to talk to y-”

“Do not raise your voice at me.” White’s tone became stern for the first time, briefly reminding her of Pearl, back when they used to fight all the time. “I do not tolerate talking back. Do you understand?”

“NO!” Fury gripped the gem hard. “We need you to listen to us! There’s thousands of gems you  _ janked up _ with your stupid corruption blast, and we need you to fix it!” She threw her hands out, not caring what her attitude meant at that moment. “You wouldn’t listen, so we needed to get your attention, man! What other choice did we have?”

White’s expression had become neutral. She and the quartz simply locked eyes for a long moment, each of them waiting for the other’s next move. Amethyst held her glare, looking fate itself in the face as she struggled to push the now-too-late second thoughts about arguing with White out of her head. White could do literally anything she wanted to do-  _ why _ was it a good idea to argue like that with her? Amethyst grimaced- this might not go the way she had wanted it to.

“I was going to be merciful,” White began eventually, not taking her eyes off of Amethyst. “My dearest Pink would surely throw a fit if she found out I had seriously harmed any of her  _ precious friends. _ But, you’ve made that awfully difficult, wouldn’t you say?”

Amethyst’s metaphorical blood ran cold. “...What do you mean?”

“An off-color like you should be broken already,” White re-stated from before, “but now you’ve given me many more reasons to do so.”

“Wait, NO!” The purple quartz started backing away quickly, subconsciously putting as much space between her and  _ actual death, nice going, idiot, _ hoping to no avail that it would be enough. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean- I just wanted to help out Ste-”

She was cut off again as White’s mind beam hit her, numbing her  _ everything _ as she collapsed onto the floor, surely to never wake up again.

So you can guess how surprised she was when she realized that she wasn’t dead after all. Instead of shattering her right then and there, White decided to let someone else do it for her, and had moved Amethyst to a dark room. There were no visible doors from what she could see, nor any windows. Light emanated from a small light in the center of the ceiling, giving the illusion of an Earthen building with how similar it was to a human lightbulb. 

However, the large Diamond insignia beneath her feet disproved that theory very quickly.

Amethyst took her time sitting up, rubbing at her head. She couldn’t remember getting in this room, nor the path she took to get here. How long was she out for? Surely not long, right? She felt like she’d just closed her eyes for a few seconds. 

“Hey! You awake in there?” A gem’s voice she didn’t recognize called from behind one of the walls. 

“Uhh...” Amethyst wasn’t sure whether she should respond or not, since she didn’t know this gem’s intentions, and opted to stay quiet. She’d had enough confrontations for a while- the memory of White’s neutral, almost  _ evil _ expression still burned into her mind’s eye. 

She heard the gem hum, mutter under her breath, and take a few steps in...  _ a _ direction. It wasn’t closer or further away, so maybe she started pacing? The steps paused, then began again, then paused, then began again. Yep, pacing. Amethyst stayed quiet the whole time, not daring to make a sound, as she tried to piece together what this gem might want. Was she a guard? Was she the one who was going to do it? Maybe Amethyst could persuade her to let her go, but that meant running the risk that she wasn’t going to get through to her, resulting in Ame’s death. That didn’t sound pleasant at all, so staying quiet it was.

The gem on the other side groaned, then stomped her feet in her pacing. She stopped again, then robotic tapping noises sounded from the other side. 

_ She’s gonna open the door, _ Amethyst realized. Quickly, she threw herself in a laying-down position, pretending to fall asleep. Any chance to fool this gem was one she’d take, though curiosity over her appearance raised an eyelid just enough to be able to see.

When the door swung open, she saw another Jasper-lookin’ gem, though this one was more of a yellow-y orange than she had been. Her hair was up in two pigtails extending past her hips, and the yellow diamond of Yellow’s court sat on a thick belt around her waist. Her uniform was very similar to the amethysts up in the Zoo, except the darker straps on the shirt simply looped around the collar of her shirt rather than creating a strap at all. The pants and boots were the same, but yellow like Topaz had been.

The gem walked in, glaring down at Amethyst. The purple gem shut her eyes quickly, hoping she hadn’t noticed. “Rrrrrrrr, this is so stupid,” the gem grumbled. “I don’t take orders from White. Why am I doing this?”

Amethyst resisted the urge to react. She kept her face as still as she could. But, inside, she was  _ celebrating. _ It sounded like this gem didn’t want to hurt her, or at least, she wasn’t sold on the idea. Maybe there was a way to get through to her after all?

Something kicked her lightly in the side. “Come on now, stand up,” the yellow quartz commanded. “I know you can hear me.”

_ No I can’t, _ Amethyst thought frantically, trying more unsuccessfully to not react.  _ I hear nothing. _

“HEY! GET UP!” The next kick was sharper, causing the purple quartz to cry out on alarm as she skidded across the floor a couple of feet. Her eyes opened wide without her permission, and she was staring at this new gem immediately. There was no going back from this- the gem knew she was awake.

“I’M UP!” she yelled on instinct. 

“Tch. Good.” The yellow gem stepped forward, moving like she was going to grab Amethyst. The smaller of the two got to her feet and pulled out a whip, all in one move. She cracked it in the air threateningly. Yellow-Quartz stopped, her eyes widening for a second. “Hey now, put that away,” she growled. “We don’t wanna make a bigger mess than we have to.”

“Don’t come any closer and we won’t have to,” Amethyst shot back, tensing. If she was gonna go down, it was going to be with a fight.

Yellow-Quartz looked at her for a good, long minute, before sighing. “Fine. Whatever.” She threw a hand up, and spun around so her back was to Amethyst.

The smaller of the two straightened immediately, surprised. “Wait, what?”

“I don’t wanna be here, and if you’re gonna be difficult, then I’m not dealing with it.” She crossed her arms. Amethyst noted that her gem was on her right shoulder.

The purple quartz blinked rapidly, trying to figure out what just happened. “But, wasn’t I s’posed to be... y’know...” she made a snapping motion in the air with her hands, her left still gripping her whip.

“Yeah, y’are,” Yellow-Quartz audibly rolled her eyes. “But White is not my Diamond. If she wants you shattered, she can come do it herself.”

“Can’t. She’s too busy possessing everyone.” Amethyst’s whip vanished. She didn’t know how to explain it, but she didn’t feel in danger anymore. There was just something about this gem... 

“Possessing everyone?” Yellow-Quartz looked back at her. “You serious?”

Amethyst shrugged, nodding. “Pretty much. She got both Yellow and Blue D, and then some.”

“My word.” The other gem looked to the ground, confused. She rubbed the back of her head, seriously mulling this over. “What did... how did that happen?”

_ This is my chance, _ Amethyst thought. She thought back to Steven, trying to imagine him in this situation. What would he say? “Y’know, I don’t know how he did it, but Steven- Pink Diamond, but not really- he got Yellow and Blue to listen to him. They went to White to tell her about how upset they were, since they’re, like, really sad, and there was this big battle to get her to listen to them, but as soon as they got close, she possessed ‘em.” Amethyst rubbed the back of her neck. Now’s the part when Steven would reach out and somehow see into the other person’s soul, and empathize with them. Amethyst had no clue how he did it, and she wasn’t getting any clues here. Did he just guess? Or was she really bad at this?

“Well, that just makes me wanna  _ not _ even more.” Yellow-Quartz crossed her arms, fully turning back to Amethyst again. “What’d you do ‘da make her wanna shatter you, _ show up? _ ”

“I-” Amethyst blinked, caught off-guard. Her gem was on the line, so she couldn’t get defensive, but  _ man _ did she want to. “Mostly? I also shouted at her.”

To Amethyst’s surprise, Yellow-Quartz actually  _ grinned _ at her. “Wow. You got guts, deep-cut. Where’d you get the courage?”

Amethyst allowed herself to smile, too, if a bit awkwardly. “She hurt my friends. They’re still possessed by her, I think. I just... said what was on my mind.”

“Hardcore.” Yellow-Quartz extended a hand. “I’m Citrine, facet 6, cut 9IL. I like you.”

“Well thanks!” Amethyst grinned happily up at Citrine. “Amethyst, facet 5, cut 8XM.” It felt so  _ weird _ that her supposed executioner was having a normal conversation with her like this. She didn’t seem like the kind of gem who liked shattering. Or, if she did like it, she was still surprisingly chill. 

Ames took the other gem’s hand, noting her strong grip immediately. She didn’t think it was Jasper-strong, but it sure was up there.  _ Still gotta be careful, _ she chided herself.  _ Yer gem’s still on the line, you dip. _

“Anyways,” Citrine took her hand back and placed it on her hip, cocking her hip to the side a bit, “I’m s’posta shatter peeps when Yellow commands it, but, I’m really eh about it, y’know? I mean, if Yellow wants me to, I’ll do it, but...” she shrugged. “Yellow didn’t say nothin’ this time. So if I can get off the hook, I’m glad to.”

The fact this gem was numb to shattering was troubling, but Amethyst wasn’t about to whip out a moral compass at the moment. As far as she knew, she was still on death row. “I’ve always been against it m’self,” she opted to say instead of lecturing. “Every gem deserves a shot, y’know?”

“Yeah.” Citrine looked to the ground, her smile fading. She looked like she was recalling something. “Agreed.”

Well that was unexpected. Amethyst cocked her head to the side. “Wait, really? But aren’t you a professional shatter-er or somethin’?”

Citrine let out a small laugh. “Yeah, but s’not like I chose to be. Citrines are usually guards. I guess guarding your gem  _ really extra well _ is enough to get a promotion.”

“Heh.  _ That’s _ a promotion?”

“‘Parently. According to the Diamonds.”

“Of course. What’s a demotion, freedom of choice?”

“That and having no work to do.”

“That’s horrible.”

The two shared a laugh. It was admittedly kinda nice to talk to Citrine like this, even if she was supposed to have killed Amethyst by now. Maybe that was  _ why _ it was so nice, actually. Citrine seemed to have a lot of respect for Yellow, so Amethyst didn’t plan on announcing her own opinions on that topic, but she could relate to a lot of what Citrine said. It was  _ weird, _ and she didn’t know how to feel about it, but for the time being, she was happy her gem was still in one piece.

“Aaaanyways,” Citrine stood up straighter, stretching out a bit as if she’d just woken up, “if I ain’t gonna hurt ya, then I’m gonna go do somethin’ productive, y’ feel me? You stay here and don’t cause trouble.”

“Aye aye, captain,” Amethyst replied lazily, bringing a hand half-heartedly up to her forehead in a salute. She was glad this gem was leaving, since that meant she had more time to- well, to  _ live- _ and she could maybe think of a way to talk to her. She wasn’t even sure what she wanted Citrine to do just yet, besides letting her go. Did she want to have CItrine become a Crystal Gem? Amethyst wasn’t sure, but it was worth thinking about. “Talk to ya later, then.”

Citrine clicked her tongue, shooting the purple quartz a pair of finger guns, before walking out of the room. The door was still open, but Amethyst didn’t think running was a good idea, so she stayed where she was, waiting for the door to slide shut again. 

Once it did, she brought a hand up to her forehead in confusion. A shatterer. Amethyst had just befriended a shatterer, and she seemed, like,  _ actually chill. _ How on Earth- no, how on  _ Homeworld _ was that a thing? Maybe that’s what Ames should do- if Citrine didn’t like shattering, then maybe she could persuade her to stop once and for all. On Earth, you don’t have to shatter if you don’t want to. She wasn’t sure on what Citrine’s backstory was, but finding out might be the key to persuading her.

She just had to wait until the gem arrived again.

Amethyst felt it had only been a half an hour before Citrine opened the door again. Amethyst perked up immediately, surprising herself at how excited she was to see the gem again, the reminder to remain weary of her not really running through her head. 

“Oh. hey Cit-” she cut herself off, noting immediately the stress lines under the yellow gem’s eyes, though her pose remained stiff and tough.

Uh oh.

“Uhh, is everythin’ okay?” Amethyst shifted uncomfortably. Subconsciously, she reached a hand up towards her gem, ready to pull her whip out if she had to. “You look... upset?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” Citrine’s eyebrows creased. “You’re, um, you’re being moved off the list. You’re not gonna get shattered.”

Relief washed over Amethyst in waves. She sighed, slumping back a bit onto her arms. “Oh thank the stars,” she murmured breathily. 

“Yeah. Yer set to be rejuvenated instead.”

Amethyst perked up, looking to the yellow gem in curiosity. “Rejuvenated? What’s that?”

Citrine blinked in surprise, quickly realizing that this gem didn’t know the danger she was still in. “Rejuvenation. They, um, they poof you and then take all yer memories away. You go back to how you were when you first emerged.”

Amethyst’s heart sunk. “...Oh.”

It was a heck of a lot better than being shattered, that was for sure, but she was still technically going to die either way, right? If she had no memories, then she’d go back to being the little clingy mimic she had been when Rose first found her. What would Homeworld do with a mimic? It took her a couple hundred years to stop copying people and develop her own personality- was Homeworld willing to wait that long?

Citrine looked like she was about to have a heart attack with how stressed she appeared to be, which was odd, since wasn’t she numb to shattering people? Why was rejuvenation worse to her? Amethyst pulled herself to her feet, taking a few steps closer. “Hey, C, you good?” Amethyst reached out a hand slightly. “Why are you-” she stopped. No need to beat around the bush. “What’s so bad about rejuvenation that you’re this upset?”

“It’s... it’s not me,” Citrine rubbed at her head with a hand. “Just- rejuvenation means torture, too. It’s basically death by electricity, which is bad. At least with shattering, there’s no pain- it’s over fast. With rejuvenation, you’re gonna suffer for at least a few seconds, maybe more, before it’s done.” Citrine ran that same hand down her face, pulling at her chin a bit. “They stopped using rejuvenators a long time ago, since they don’t always work. If they turned it back on, that means it’s for some really important gems.” 

Amethyst backed up a bit. Great. That sounded like  _ so _ much fun. “Um, important?”

Citrine’s gaze hardened. She looked at Amethyst sternly, evaluating her. “What exactly did you do to end up on the shattering list? They don’t normally rejuvenate Off-Color gems- what did you do to make yourself so special?”

Ames gulped. “I, um, I ‘unno? I’m a Crystal Gem from Earth. We came here to try and persuade White Diamond to help heal all the corrupted gems on Earth. We had Yellow and Blue on our side, and we just needed to talk to White, but she wasn’t listening to us at all!” Amethyst found herself heating up at the thought. “Steven wound up throwing a ball so she would come and we could talk to her, but she didn’t show, then he and Connie fused, which made Yellow and Blue mad. But then Ruby and Sapphire fused to stand up for Stevonnie, and so Pearl an’ me fused too, but we all got poofed, and then next thing I know, I’m Smoky Quartz because Steven fused with me to pull me out of my gem, and we were falling, but he saved us! Then, we all fused into Obsidian to try and get into White’s head, so we could  _ force _ her to listen to us, and apparently, she had possessed the other two Diamonds already, so there was another battle to get in there, and we all were poofed again as Obsidian, but the rest of us were okay, so we slipped into White’s head through her eye, and then she  _ still _ wasn’t listening to us, and she possessed  _ me, _ and then when I woke up, Garnet and Pearl were possessed, and I got mad, and I demanded she listen to me!”

Amethyst panted, out of breath. It felt  _ good _ to get all of that off her chest. One look at Citrine showed she was only kind of following along, but the darker gaze had turned to something lighter, so Amethyst felt confident to continue. She wasn’t done yet, anyways.

“She told me the only reason I wasn’t jus’ gonna be shattered was because I was a friend to Pink Diamond- that’s Steven, by the way- but because I yelled at her, White was gonna have me shattered no matter what. And then I woke up here.”

Citrine stared at her in shock for a few, long moments, before she started to laugh. “You guys got an addiction to fusion, don’tcha?” She shook her head. “I liked you already, but  _ holy stars, _ your group is awesome! You mentioned a pearl, too? And a sapphire?”

Amethyst nodded. “Yeah. Ruby and Sapphire fuse all the time- her name is Garnet- and then there’s Pearl, me, and Steven.” She smiled fondly at the memory of her found family. “Steven’s got Pink Diamond’s gemstone, though Little Man isn’t her, not even close. Everyone is trying to convince him that he is, though. It’s been stressing him out a lot, lately.”

Citrine hummed in thought. “Interesting...”

“What? What’s interesting?”

“Well, it might be nothing, but I have heard rumors that both Yellow and Blue have gone missing. That would explain why I haven’t heard from Yellow in a while. If your story is true, that means they’re still possessed.”

Amethyst nodded. “Yeah. I saw ‘em myself.”

“And this Steven you speak of? She’s technically Pink Diamond, right?”

“He, yes. I...” Amethyst trailed off, cringing. “...I couldn’t see him when I was in White’s head. He was somewhere else.”

Citrine frowned. “I’ll... I have some thinking to do...”

Amethyst walked forward again, daring to place a hand on Citrine’s arm. “Yellow didn’t command anything from you, right? So, why are you listening to White, anyways?”

“I have to.” Citrine shook her head. “White is the most powerful gem on Homeworld. I hate her, don’t get me wrong, but...” she sighed dejectedly. “She doesn’t take no for an answer, let’s say that.”

“Trust me; I’m aware.” Amethyst took a step back. “You shouldn’t have to listen to White, man. What do you want to do?”

Citrine blinked. “Me? I want to walk out of here and do  _ nothing. _ But, I can’t.” Her gaze hardened. “Amethyst, you need to be moved to the rejuvenation station. I’m being transferred there, too, just until all subjects have been rejuvenated and placed in service.” Her gem glowed, and from it, a whip of her own appeared. “Come with me.”

Amethyst backed up, pulling out her own whip. “Come and  _ get _ me.”

Citrine sighed. “I’m sorry, buddy, you’re makin’ this harder for both of us.” She raised an arm, and brought the whip down.

Now, Amethyst was pretty much an expert with the whip. That was her weapon, after all. However, she had never fought somebody else who  _ also _ used a whip. This was a whole new experience- she had to be careful. Looking for her own tells in someone else quickly proved difficult, but she was determined to fight. 

Citrine brought the whip down again as Amethyst spin-dashed around her, making for the still-open door. Citrine saw this, and cracked her whip that way, cutting Ames off. The purple quartz dodged left to avoid it, but since she was still spin-dashing, this threw off her balance, and she fell on her side. Scrambling to her feet quickly, she immediately lashed out at Citrine from across the room.

Citrine ducked under the attack. 

Amethyst tried again, stepping a few paces closer. Citrine ducked again, but this time, she reached up and grabbed Amethyst’s whip, at one of the three points it split near the tip. Citrine tugged, pulling Amethyst closer. The purple quartz let out a cry of alarm, and before she could react much, she found herself wrapped up completely in the opposing quartz’ whip. Caught.

Amethyst wriggled, trying to get loose, but Citrine just tightened the whip in response. “Sorry, Amethyst,” she grumbled. “I had to.”

With that, the both of them walked out of the room together, and began the trek to the rejuvenation station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaand scene! 
> 
> Back to the previous chapter lol.
> 
> Also Lucigoosey, Citrine is your fault lol. I realized halfway writing her debut scene that she's literally just a combination between Berry and Chevron, with maybe a but of Tangerine thrown in there.
> 
> By the way, if y'all haven't, you should go read "I Am Rose Quartz." If you like my story, you'll _definitely_ like that one. It's more intense than my story, to be sure, but holy cRAP it's so good.
> 
> #notspon lol
> 
> Link to Chapter 1: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24813136/chapters/60013933


	17. Livin' on a Prayer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title: They coulda lost all their character development
> 
> Switched because that one's too spoiler-y for new people aha.

“I... I don’t...” the yellow-orange gem’s grip tightened and untightened reflexively. Doug’s eyes narrowed. There was something going on here that he didn’t understand, but Amethyst seemed to, if the knowing look on her face was any indicator.

“Amethyst?” he called out. “What’s going on? Who is this?”

Amethyst squirmed a bit, trying to get free from her, but even with Citrine’s inconsistent grip, she just couldn’t break free. “This is Citrine,” she growled out. “She doesn’t wanna do this, but feels like she hasta because White’s scary.”

“Oh.” Pink Pearl’s hand went instinctively to her gem. “I understand that...”

Citrine groaned. “Way ta just spill my secrets, 8XM,” she hissed under her breath, lifting the quartz up a bit so her feet left the floor. “I couldn’t have done it better myself or anything.”

“Just put her down!” Lars started to stalk forward, holding his sword out threateningly. “White is probably not gonna even care. She’s too busy possessing Blue, Yellow, and Pink Diamond. She’s straining herself.” He relaxed just a bit, looking into the orange-yellow gem’s eyes. “You can help us defeat her! Save your Diamond!”

_ “FIGHT _ White Diamond??” Citrine visibly recoiled. “Are you lot  _ insane?” _

“M’yep.” Amethyst deadpanned with a smile. “And I love ‘em for it.”

“We’re  _ not _ fighting White Diamond,” Doug spoke up. “That would be a suicide mission. What we want to do is gather enough gems so that she can’t control everyone who opposes her and  _ force _ her to listen to us.”

Citrine stiffened. “That...  _ might _ work,” she mused. “But how do you know you can fight off everyone White controls?”

The humans froze. They hadn’t thought about that (which was stupid, in hindsight. Didn’t Pearl fight Connie?). That could be a big problem, depending on the types of gems that would be crawling in there. The more fighting experience, the worse...

“An excellent point...” Peridot grumbled, voicing Doug’s thoughts aloud.

“We can take ‘em!” Barb announced confidently. “She can’t control us humans, so there’s always us as backup!”

Citrine seemed to brighten. “That makes sense! Her powers directly target the gem, and y’all don’t got one!” She laughed. “That’s amazing!”

“You know what would be  _ more _ amazing? Putting me down!” Amethyst demanded, hands reaching up to try and tug Citrine off of her. “C’mon, man, you’re cooler than this!”

Citrine blushed in embarrassment. “Heh, if you say so.” She let Amethyst go, and the purple quartz wasted no time in running to the other two cells. She tapped at the panel of the one on the right, and after a moment of struggle, the yellow field went down.

“Wait, just like  _ that?!” _ Peridot yelled out in surprise. “I expected we’d at least have to  _ fight _ for it!”

“What can I say, I’m full of surprises.” Citrine looked down at the gremlin, who squinted up suspiciously in return. 

Much to Doug’s surprise, Garnet or Pearl were not inside. Instead, a small red gem leapt out, dashing to the other cell and started clawing away at the controls, Amethyst not far behind.

Citrine watched the two smaller gems fuss over the panel with detached amusement. “It works better when you’re not pressin’ every button at once,” she teased.

“We  _ got it,  _ C,” Amethyst shot back. “Ruby, chill out!”

“Right, right,” Ruby bonked herself in the head with the butt of her hand. “Sorry.”

Someone giggled from within the still-enclosed cell. “It’s fine, sweetie,” a deeper voice laughed. “I don’t mind.”

That’s when it clicked. Doug  _ did _ recognize those two gems, they were the ones who got married not that long ago.  _ That’s Garnet, _ he connected. He mentally slapped himself- he should have recognized Ruby’s voice from when he’d heard her before.

“Wait, Amethyst,” Jenny felt confident to approach, running to the purple gem’s side. “If you and those two are here, where’s Pearl?”

“She’s not with you?” Amethyst looked back to the group frantically, and Doug watched as a crestfallen look crossed her features. “Oh... I thought I saw her.” She placed a hand on her forehead. “I have no clue where she could be...”

“Well, if your punishments were rejuvenation,” Peridot began, placing a finger on her chin, “that means White saw what potential you had and wanted to still use it. This means Pearl is either shattered or in service, since Homeworld has a very...  _ set-in-stone _ way of thinking about pearls.” She placed a hand proudly on her chest. “Unlike me, these gems are not enlightened.”

“So she’s, like, serving someone?” Sour Cream asked. At Lars’ nod, he frowned. “Yikes.”

“We can find her later!” Ruby took over once again with the panel, and it finally opened, allowing the graceful blue gem to exit. Doug noted that both Sapphire and Ruby looked  _ drastically _ different from when he first saw them, but it was mostly in their outfits. For one, Sapphire was wearing the dress this time, and Ruby’s outfit was more casual than a suit. “Right now, we gotta escape!” Ruby looked at Sapphire, extending a hand. “Shall we?”

“We shall,” Sapphire returned, giggling.

They began to dance, and Amethyst backed up, allowing them to twirl around. The onlookers smiled at the sight, Citrine gasping in awe as the two small gems began to glow, their forms growing and creating something new together. When the light faded, Garnet stepped forward. 

Amethyst immediately walked forward and hugged her, shaking.  _ Why was she shaking? _ Doug had never seen her upset before, though she was still smiling in relief. 

Garnet saw this and smiled herself. “Miss me much?” she teased, patting Amethyst on the head.

“Oh hardy har,” Amethyst swatted Garnet’s hand away, blushing. “Just glad we’re all okay.”

Citrine walked over to Doug and Lars, who were still standing next to each other during all of this, her boots making light tapping sounds on the floor. “How many gems do you have on your side now?” She asked, looking back and forth between Doug and Lars. “Also, which one of you is the leader? I assume her- him- them?” She pointed at Lars.

Amethyst laughed, leaning against the wall now. “You’ll get the hang of human pronouns, don’t worry.”

Lars laughed. “Me, I am. I’m Lars. He/him, if you would.” He held a hand out to shake, which Citrine took gladly.

“Well, nice ta meet’cha, Lars!” Citrine looked genuinely happy, something Doug hadn’t expected from a gem working in this particular building. But, just as fast as the smile came, it went; she froze, stiffening. 

On instinct, Doug did the same, and  _ paled. _ There were footsteps running down the halls now, and shouting. There were many voices, not just two, so it couldn’t have been just the guards from earlier. 

Citrine growled. “We’ve got company,” she uttered. 

Amethyst nodded next to her. “No shattering?”

Citrine seemed to seriously think about this for a minute, but sighed and nodded. “Yeah. No shattering.” The gem on her arm glowed, and out came a whip very similar to Amethyst’s own. She did the same, while Garnet summoned her gauntlets. The two pearls began backing up, still not up for joining the fight. 

Lars put a hand on Doug’s shoulder. “Hey, man, we got this,” he murmured, just loud enough for Doug to hear. “You help the others this time, okay? I have a feeling they’re gonna need it.”

“What about you?” Doug didn’t look at Lars, keeping his eyes straight forward. 

“I’ll be okay.” He could hear the grin in Lars’ voice. “Just don’t get stabbed, okay?”

Doug had to suppress a chuckle. “Got it.”

The footsteps had grown louder now, and the whole group tensed. There was only about a second of wait before their enemies rounded the corner. In walked the two topazes from before, an amethyst, a bunch of rubies- four, it looked like- and Curly Lapis from earlier, the one who was with Freckles. Amethyst and Garnet stiffened upon looking at them- was there someone there they recognized? Did they know Curly?

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” Citrine taunted, pulling out a whip. 

“YOU!” Top-Hat Topaz stepped forward, pointing her sais accusingly at her. “You were supposed to  _ rejuvenate _ the prisoners, not  _ join _ them!”

“Eh, I do what I want,” Citrine teased back. “White is  _ not _ my Diamond.”

“Hmph. Looks like the ‘freedom fighters’ got taken down after all,” Curly stepped forward, grinning wickedly at them. “So much for your stupid plan to get us to turn on each other. Well, except her,” she glared at Citrine with no hidden disdain. 

“Now, there’s no need to fight over this,” Lars stepped forward. “We are on a mission to try and free the other three Diamonds from White’s control. If you join us, you can-”

“We’re not listenin’ to ANYTHING you traitorous rebels say!” one of the rubies stomped forward. She had a small, chiseled dagger in her hand, and her gem was on her left eye. A yellow diamond insignia was painted proudly on her chest.  _ ‘Eyeball,’  _ he heard Amethyst growl under her breath. “You should all be shattered!”

“Good luck shattering us- we’re human,” Jenny had the confidence to quip. She crossed her arms. “That ain’t something we can do.”

Eyeball frowned. “Don’t play dumb- I’ve seen humans shatter before.”

Lars threw out a hand. “We’re not shattering anyone! We just want to free the Diamonds and get White to listen to us!”

_ “ATTACK!” _ Top-Hat Topaz yelled, pointing her sais at the group. Her band of gems let out battle cries, and rushed forward. 

Doug ran forward, clashing with the first gem he made contact with. This was one of the rubies, but not Eyeball- her gem was on her thigh. The small gem swung another dagger, but this one was sharpened into a point. It narrowly missed Doug’s chest. He swung at her, and she rolled out of the way. They circled each other like sharks, each jabbing at the other at any chance they could.

_ Keep your stance wide, keep your body lowered, _ Connie’s voice rang through Doug’s head. He felt himself fall into a rhythm- swipe, block, turn, swipe, block, turn. Ruby seemed to be doing the same, as she lead their dance, aiming for different places every time. 

There were metallic clangs all around the two, but they faded into the background. The only thing that mattered was this fight.

Ruby let out a yell and leaped for Doug, aiming for his chest. The man veered right, slashing at the small gem as she flew by. Ruby skidded to a halt on her feet, then immediately launched at him again. This time, she successfully landed on his side, dagger already swinging. The tip of the blade cut into his arm, to which Doug hissed in pain. However, this only served to make him faster. Adrenaline kicking in now, he grabbed her and threw her off of him, and onto the ground. Before she could react, his own sword had plunged into her stomach area, and she poofed. Her small, red gem fell to the ground.

Now that she was gone, the sounds of battle hit Doug full-force. He spun around, taking it all in.

Garnet was engaged with one of the topazes, and seemed to have the upper hand. Citrine and Amethyst took the other. The enemy amethyst was up against Barb, sword versus sword, while Sadie, Jenny, and Sour Cream all fought off the other three rubies on their own. They seemed to be struggling the most, though Sadie was holding her own pretty well. Water wings also flared up, knocking into Garnet, though not enough to phase her. Peridot yelled something nearby.

As one ruby leaped for Sour Cream, Doug rushed forward and knocked her away. She skidded across the ground, her what looked like nunchucks flung away from her, and then vanished. SC rushed forward and poofed her while she was still down, panting hard as he did so.

Eyeball was locked head-on-head with Sadie, and they seemed equally matched. Sadie would jab, Eyeball would parry. Then, Eyeball would advance, and Sadie would block. They did an elaborate, deadly dance across the hallway, each one trying to get just one hit in on the other.

The other ruby was looking more uncertain now. Her gem, located on her naval, glowed, and from it, a shield appeared. She rushed forward with hesitance, trying to knock Sadie away from Eyeball, but one slash from the girl in question sent the gem backwards again. It almost reminded Doug of Steven, if he acted more his age. Or, how old he looked? Apparently, the kid was 14.

Doug shook his head, banishing those thoughts for now, before running with SC over to Eyeball. They both were able to knock her back, three humans against one gem now. Jenny had stopped trying to hit naval-gem Ruby, and joined them in advancing on Eyeball. Four on one.

The red gem glared at them, sensing her position. “You think you can win so easily?” she growled, grip tightening on her dagger. “Just wait until White hears about what happened here. She surely won’t show any of you mercy then!”

“We’re not scared of some giant old lady who stands around all day,” Sour Cream replied. “She can’t hurt us.”

“That’s what you think.” Eyeball’s glare shifted into a knowing smirk. “White is the most powerful gem there is. You don’t stand a chance.”

As if on cue, someone poofed from behind them. Risking a glance, Doug watched as the light from the explosion faded, Garnet holding a Topaz gem in her hands triumphantly. She bubbled it. 

Using the distraction, Eyeball leaped over Sadie’s head. Doug watched as she sprinted towards Citrine and Amethyst, who were fighting the topaz with the large sword. She jumped on Ame’s head, temporarily blinding her. It was enough of a distraction for Topaz to bring her sword down on the gem’s head, poofing her in an explosion of purple light.

_ “AMETHYST!”  _ Citrine yelled out, less out of shock and more as a warning to Garnet, who was nearby. Citrine was still locked in battle, and focused harder on not getting hit by the sword as she danced around Ame’s gem, trying to protect it.

Doug turned fully back around and raced for it, but before he could get there, he watched Eyeball grab it instead. A red bubble formed around it. Then, the ruby started running, and Doug lost sight of her.

“Where’s her gem?!” Garnet yelled out, looking around. 

“You don’t know?!” Citrine dodged around another attack, only half-focused. “Don’t you have future vision?”

Doug could see the large, maroon gem now. She was locked with the enemy amethyst still, fighting with Barb to poof the strangely good fighter. She was doing the same thing Top-Hat Topaz did- blocking attacks from both sides quickly and efficiently. But, maintaining concentration on that must be difficult, so Doug felt it was worth evening the odds.

He rushed forward and jammed his sword into the amethyst’s side, poofing her. Garnet bubbled her gem.

Future vision free, Garnet began looking around. “Oh, no!” She turned around, and Doug followed her gaze to the room at the end of the hall.

There, Amethyst sat in Eyeball’s bubble. It was positioned inside the black orb, which was now starting to close up. The room began to hum with life, and a soft  _ click! _ signified that the orb had shut.

“NO!” Garnet leaped forward, gauntlets already swinging. She brought her hands down upon the orb, watching as it spider-cracked from the impact.

A screen appeared above the thing, showing live feed from inside. There, electricity started to crackle, popping the bubble. Amethyst’s gem fell to the ground and immediately started glowing, the quartz reforming fast.

This caught everyone’s attention by now. The Cool Kids had fully turned to watch, along with Barb and Doug. The enemy gems, of which there now only stood the two rubies and that lapis, saw their chance. Curly extended her water wings and cut off everyone who tried to rush forward and help Garnet, shoving them back and into the ruby with the shield. On her own, she couldn’t do anything, but once she stole SC’s sword, she was a force to beware. 

Plus, the other two ruby gems had never been bubbled, and now, one of them was reforming. The one with the dagger that Doug poofed stood up, noticed their numbers, and quickly joined her fellow ruby in forcing the others away.

Garnet saw this, but continued her assault on the orb. From inside, Amethyst cringed at the noise. 

“Hey, what’s goin’ on?” she called out. “There’s a lotta static electricity in here, heh!” She laughed nervously. “Uhh, I’d appreciate being let out!”

“I’M  _ TRYING!” _ Garnet pounded on it again, and the crack spread further. “Just hang on!”

“Bye-bye!” Eyeball sang out. She pressed a button on a control panel nearby, and then Amethyst  _ screamed. _

Doug watched in horror as electricity ran through her form in waves, quickly followed by light paths down her arms and legs.  _ Light passages! _ he realized. It was literally tearing her form apart!

Garnet stopped attacking the orb, opting instead to aim her gauntlets at Eyeball. The little red gem, for some reason, never saw this coming, and let out a cry of alarm as she poofed. Her gem was bubbled before the smoke cleared.

Amethyst collapsed on the ground inside the orb, panting hard now. “GUYS?!” she shouted. 

Garnet slammed her still-weaponized hand down on the same button Eyeball had pressed before, and waited. 

Nothing changed.

Amethyst’s whole form was practically glowing now, with how much light was coursing through her light passages uninvitedly. She curled up, looking at her hand. 

_ ENOUGH! _ Doug gripped his sword tightly, and ran forward towards Garnet. Curly saw him, and tried to flick him back with her wings, but Doug cheesed her- immediately running to the right, away from her, and out of range of where her wing was a second before. This gave him clearance to enter the room, where he ran up to the control panel.

“I got the buttons, you get the orb!” he shouted. Not waiting for Garnet to respond, he started pushing buttons. They were labeled in gem, and very faint, so to him, they were completely unlabeled. There were a bunch of buttons around the “turn on” button, and he wasn’t sure what each did, and was too nervous to press them for fear they’d make it worse somehow.

However, off on the very far side of the panel sat a lone, green button. Seeing this, Doug figured Amethyst had nothing much else to lose. He brought his hand down on it hard, then whipped around to see if it had any effect.

The humming died down, and after a second, Amethyst’s screams died down with it. She was left panting inside. “Ug, I feel terrible...” she grumbled, sounding sick. 

One more hit from Garnet reduced the orb to debris, freeing Amethyst once and for all. She allowed herself to fall over like a rag doll, groaning. 

“What took y’all so long?” she mumbled.

“NO!” Curly turned away from the humans, flaring her wings at Garnet and Amethyst. “You weren’t supposed to escape!”

“I think we might have broken your rejuvenator, too.” Doug smiled, relief washing over him in waves.

Without Curly there to seal the intimidation factor, the other two rubies were poofed in the distraction. Barb and Lars held up their gems, and everyone cheered. 

The two pearls, who had taken to hiding in some of the cells, poked their heads out. “Is it over?” Yellow Pearl asked. “I don’t know how much more fighting I can take.”

“Yes.” Garnet leaned down and carefully picked Amethyst up, holding her princess-style. The gem herself didn’t seem like she could move, and begrudgingly allowed Garnet to hoist her around. This didn’t stop Garnet from looking threatening, however; Curly backed up a step under her glare. “We’re done here.”

Curly let out a “tch!” and rolled her eyes. “You might have broken that rejuvenator, but that doesn’t mean anything. White is still going to shatter you for this.”

“So?” Peridot grinned. “I say let her try! We’ve faced her once, we can do it again!”

“Sure. You guys have fun with that.” Curly rolled her eyes. 

In the aftermath of the battle, Garnet walked around the room, making sure every single gem was bubbled. Then, she pushed Curly into a cell, turning the forcefield on. The bubbles were all placed in two separate cells, creating the illusion that there were still three gems here who needed to be rejuvenated, buying them more time to get away.

Amethyst remained in Garnet’s hold the whole time, though her head started to move around on her own accord, so that must be good, right? Garnet checked her future vision; it was going to be a while, but Amethyst would be okay. Give her two hours tops, and she’d be back to normal. She might have a few memory issues, but those could be recovered over time. Doug trusted her on this, but Amethyst still didn’t look great.

“Hey, man, you got a moment?” Doug looked over to see Lars walking up to him. At Doug’s nod, the young adult continued; “you were awesome today. I just want you to know that. Without you, we probably never would have gotten in here in the first place, nor would we have rescued Amethyst.”

Doug blinked. “Really?”

Lars nodded. “Yeah. You rock, man.”

Doug chuckled. “Where did this come from? Last I checked, you are way more experienced than me.”

“That just makes you cooler, man.” Lars nudged him playfully. “In all honesty, though, I guess I just wanted to let you know. We forget to tell people when they’re doing a good job sometimes.”

Doug thought back to Connie, and how much they’d neglected to do that very thing when she was young. Doug liked to think they were better at it now, but that still didn’t stop him from sighing sadly. “Yeah, I agree.”

Lars noticed the look Doug had adopted, but opted not to press. “Anyways, listen up, everyone!” Heads turned to him now, human and gem alike listening for their next move. “We’ve made some great progress, but we’re not done yet. We still need to get Homeworld on our side. So, let’s head back to the ship and get back in the air!”

The humans cheered. Garnet smiled, while Amethyst let out a non-committed “Yay team” from the maroon gem’s arms. Peridot ran ahead of them.

When they got back, Blue Pearl still had the ship. Their attackers had left it alone, surprisingly, and they were able to take off without any problem while the now-crowded ship cheered from inside.

Even if they couldn’t get enough gems, at least they knew Garnet and Amethyst were safe. Next was Pearl, and finally, Steven himself.

They were halfway there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah-oh, we're halfway there!
> 
> Does that mean halfway done with the story? I... honestly have no clue. I think we're more than halfway at this point, but I keep getting more and more ideas, so it depends on if my brain shuts up or not lmao
> 
> Anyways. Tell me if you enjoyed! I, for one, am very much enjoying poofing all these gems aha. 
> 
> Will Curly come back? Who knows. Not even I know at this point. But I left it open in case I get an idea for her! But just in case, say goodbye to her lol. It was fun while it lasted.
> 
> Leave a comment! This is the first time I really tried writing a full-on fight scene and was actually satisfied with the final product. I am taking any and all critique and criticism on it, though, so fire away!


	18. Follow the Leader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't proofread this, so if there's any mistakes, tell me aha
> 
> Enjoy!

Now that they weren’t in a hurry, the Seeing Eye ship could go at a more leisurely pace, giving the humans a proper chance to rest. It had been hours at that point; a meal break was well in order. Everyone tended to each other’s wounds from the battle, though again, none were particularly bad. The worst casualty they’d had was Amethyst, but she would be okay.

Right now. The purple gem sat propped up against the wall, Garnet sitting beside her. The maroon gem had a hand up by her glasses, gaze directed toward the floor. Amethyst was looking at her expectantly, though patiently.

Lars, Doug, and Peridot had explained to the two gems and Citrine what was going on, and each had questions, some which were answered quickly, and others not at all.

Citrine paced back and forth. “So, how is this going to work?” she asked. “I mean, how do we storm into White’s head? Ames tol’ me about a battle that took place against the thing, so surely this won’t be easy.”

Garnet glanced up at this. “I do see quite a few possible futures where we _can_ get in successfully, and with little casualty,” she announced, “but there are quite a few that are... very concerning as well. All are equally probable.”

Sadie tapped a foot in thought. “Well, what happens in the successful timelines?”

Garnet hummed, taking a look again. “Well, in some timelines, a battle takes place. Many gems are poofed, though I don’t see Amethyst or I as one of those gems. In others, White is too distracted with something else to care. Some timelines, we don’t make it, and most gems end up poofed, and some shattered.” She looked up towards Lars. “The most likely and more numerous timelines are when White is distracted, but a battle still takes place. Many gems get poofed, a lot become controlled, and chances of success drop very quickly if we’re not careful.”

Doug cringed. “Well. That’s... nice to know.”

Lars cocked his hips to the side, looking at Garnet in concern. “What about the humans? What happens to us?”

Garnet shook her head. “There are just as many timelines where you all make it out safely to when you all don’t make it at all. I... never expected you’d show up here like this. I can’t predict you anymore.”

“Oh. Fun.” Lars looked out the window, then grinned. “So if I tell you that we’ll all be okay, and leading the charge, what would you say then?”

Garnet looked, but smiled lightly to herself. “I’d say you’re all very brave, Captain Lars.”

Pink Pearl had curled up against the wall, in between her other fellow pearls. She had her eye closed, just enjoying being _alive_ again. Though, at the mention of timelines and humans, she opened her eye again and looked at Garnet and Amethyst. “So, you were set to be rejuvenated,” she commented, “and you have future vision? Did you see this coming?”

All eyes turned to Garnet now. The maroon gem in question shook her head. “There were many things that I did not expect to happen here,” she said. “Steven has a habit of changing fate wherever he goes, and to say I was underprepared is an understatement. I foresaw White not listening to him, and I foresaw that a ball was a _possibility,_ but what happened _at_ the ball, with so many gems fusing at once, I never saw. I did foresee Yellow Diamond poofing us all, but I didn’t see Bismuth, Peridot, and Lapis coming back, since I had no idea Steven’s powers could reach that far. Then, he pulled us out of our gems through fusion, another thing I never saw coming. Finally, in White’s head, I saw her controlling us, and after that, Steven would have gotten through to her somehow. But I didn’t expect she’d try to control him, too. The more likely future was that she and Steven would argue, Steven would lose his cool with her, and then she’d listen. I didn’t think she’d attempt this...

“And as for me getting rejuvenated, I expected it would be a possibility when she brought me back and Amethyst was gone. There were so many potential, horrible things that would happen, but Sapphires are precious gems, and shattering them is a huge blow to Homeworld. Rubies are expendable in Homeworld’s eyes, so I had no idea what would happen to her. But, I thought Amethyst was going to get shattered.” She looked to the smaller, purple gem in question. “Did she tell you why you were to be rejuvenated instead?”

Amethyst shook her head. “I was originally gonna get shattered. But then, she moved me to rejuvenation instead. I dunno why.” She directed her gaze to Citrine. “Do _you_ know?”

“Nope.” Citrine looked down. “She just told me to move you.”

“There’s no way White would just _change her mind_ like that,” Yellow Pearl announced. “Something must have happened.”

Eyes drifted back to Garnet again, who was already hunting for answers in her future vision. Who could have talked to her? The only ones who could get close enough to try were the people already possessed by her, and that included-

“Steven...” Garnet’s smile widened. “You said that his possession works differently, right? Well, then it is logical to conclude that Steven may have had a hand in it.” Her smile faded. “But White wouldn’t just listen to him now. She is stubborn. She must have wanted something from him, and he gave it, in order for this to have worked.” Her metaphorical blood ran cold. “What did she want from Steven?”

Although she asked the question, she thought she already knew. She wanted Pink Diamond back, so maybe Steven decided to be Pink again. Or, perhaps, she wanted Steven to just coorporate with her controlling him, since he seemed to be able to do and think his own things while under her command. Maybe join her court? Perhaps he agreed to become locked in the tower for an extended period of time. Get him to stop resisting. Make him promise that he’d not run. All of them were possible, some of them even overlapped- there were quite a few timelines where White demanded _all_ of those things- but the most likely one was still her wanting Pink to return. She didn’t see him as his own person, and it was very logical to conclude that she wouldn’t want to play with that idea at all.

“She wanted her ‘precious Pink’ back,” Amethyst voiced Garnet’s exact thoughts, making air quotes with her fingers. “But, Steven already gave himself over once, and Connie was so mad at him that he regretted it every day after. Why would he do the same thing again?”

“To protect you.” Garnet looked at Amethyst, reaching up and dissipating her visor to all three eyes were on her. Amethyst’s own widened in surprise. “Steven would do anything to help us out, and if your gem were on the line, you know he’d do anything to save you.”

Amethyst looked utterly heartbroken at the idea. “What does that mean for rescuing him?”

Once again, Garnet consulted her future vision. “I...” He completely gives up. He dies before they can make it to him. White shatters them when she sees them. Steven fights back upon seeing Amethyst alive. Steven tells them all to leave upon seeing Amethyst alive. Steven is forced to fight them off. No one wants to hurt him. They run away, defeated. He poofs them. Amethyst is moved back on death row. Steven either fights back or is completely defeated. So many timelines, so many possibilities.

Garnet’s head was starting to ache from it all. She slumped over, closing her eyes.

“I don’t know.”

* * *

The ship was fast, and Connie had seen for herself how fast this baby could truly go, when she watched Steven get carried away on it. It had basically vanished into thin air. However, Lapis was not flying it that fast, since White’s head wasn’t that far away. The speed was actually painfully slow, actually.

There were no windows aboard this stupid air boat, so all Connie could do was curl up next to her mom on the floor and imagine what it looked like below. She saw it briefly while they were landing on the blue ship, but not enough to truly know what the planet looked like. She remembered large buildings, some square, some triangle, some pyramid-esk, some round. Honestly it looked like how she’d always imagined a futuristic Empire City. So that’s what she saw in her mind’s eye as they soared overhead.

“Okay, y’all, here’s the plan,” Bismuth began, standing up and moving to the center of the ship. “We can’t just fly up to White’s door, since this is a stealth mission. She’d realize it’s us, and then we’d never get in. We’re gonna land nearby. Then, we’re gonna try and find a way in through Pink’s part of the ship, since the darn thing never detached. There were entrances down near the bottom part of the ship. The only problem is,” Bismuth ran a hand through her hair, the rainbow strands shifting out of the way, “White’s probably gonna know we’re there as soon as we step inside, and she’ll _definitely_ know when we get to her part of the ship.”

“So we sneak in as fast as possible,” Lapis said. “We can do that.”

Bismuth nodded. “As soon as we’re in her ship, we can drop the stealth, since it won’t matter anymore. But we need to keep being quiet while we approach.”

Greg clenched his fists nearby. Connie looked at him, noting that he once again had that determined fire in his eyes. That man could be a force to be reckoned with when he wanted to be, and the young teen suddenly found herself grateful that he was usually so relaxed. “How long will it take us to get to her head from now?” he asked. 

Priyanka took another bite of her protein bar, something darker crossing her features. “Too long,” she murmured. 

Bismuth shrugged. “I don’t have an answer for ya,” she stated. “I’m sorry.”

Connie felt gravity shift beneath them, as the ship stilled. It lurched just a bit, and the teen remembered why she wasn’t a huge fan of flying. It was calm compared to other takeoffs and lands she’d been on, but still uncomfortable. 

“I’m gonna land on this roof,” Lapis announced, as if everyone else could see what she was looking at. “That way, we have an easy way down. Hang on.”

Connie braced herself, feeling her mom do the same, as Lapis touched down. The ship bounced just a bit upon hitting solid ground again, and everything seemed to sway for a second (or maybe that was just Connie’s flight sickness, who knew), but after only a moment, everything was still again.

Lapis tapped at a few more things on her screen, then pulled the top down, dismissing it entirely. The room lit up a bit more, and she lifted from her perch in Aqua’s small chair, flying down to the center of the room. She hit the ground running, and slammed her hand on the panel next to the door, opening it up. Just like with the Seeing Eye ship, the door popped open, hissing, before smoothly laying down the rest of the way. Her water wings disappeared, and she walked out.

Shouts and chanting filtered in from the outside world.

Connie got to her feet quickly, following behind Bismuth outside. She heard her mom right behind her, followed quickly by Greg and the Twins. They exited and onto a flat, square-shaped roof. Off to the side was a rectangular hole cut into the roof, extending downward. Connie could guess that was the stairway. 

Lapis confirmed this theory, running to it and disappearing down beneath the floor. “This way!” she called. 

Connie ran to it, though took a moment to observe the view. White’s head towered over them, still a part of the Diamond mech, but fortunately, it wasn’t located in that big square from earlier, when she first saw it. It had since moved. But, this meant it sat awkwardly on top of buildings, making it appear even taller than it already is.

She gulped. They had to climb that monstrosity later.

Going through the building was easy. Physically, anyway. Though there were plenty of gems inside, but all of them were distracted and didn’t care enough about them to really notice them. Gems were humanoid, so as long as they didn’t stop and slow down, they were okay. Some gems bumped into them, some yelling at them to watch where they were going, some of them took a swipe at them to emphasize their points. Connie just kept moving; if they weren’t giving chase, then she’d take it.

The anxiety was suffocating, though, since this many gems could easily take them out if they wanted to through sheer number alone.

Fortunately, nothing happened. They got to the bottom and were able to leave easy enough. Connie took a deep breath, thankful, before reaching for her mom’s hand. Priyanka looked just as stressed as she felt. 

The Rutile Twins were the last out, both of them looking as if they’d just cheated death (though to them, they probably did). They looked at each other, then instinctually sought out shadow. They grabbed the nearest member of their party (Greg) and dragged him with them to the darkness of the shadow of the building.

Once everyone was safely hidden, they took a moment to observe the absolute _madness_ that was this gem gathering.

They were _everywhere._ They were chanting different things, though repeated words and phrases could be heard, most notably “where,” “my Diamond,” “Earth,” “the Cluster,” and “rejuvenation.” Connie didn’t know what that last word meant, but opted not to dwell on it. She filed it away for later. Instead, she looked out and tried to see a possible way to get to Pink’s ship from here. It was surrounded on all sides by gems, yelling and calling up to White, asking, begging for information on their diamond’s whereabouts. White remained silent to their pleas, the ship just standing there in that T-pose she always did.

“How in the cosmos are we s’posed to get through that?” Bismuth asked, observing the crowd as well. 

Lapis shook her head. “I have no idea.”

The Rutile Twins began to back up. “She’s standing right overtop one of the entrances we used to get into the Kindergartens,” the Left announced. 

“We should be able to get right up under her,” the Right added. 

“What are the odds!” Bismuth exclaimed happily. “Let’s-”

“I CAN’T TAKE MUCH MORE OF THIS!” A raspy voice cut through the air. Bismuth froze; that voice was too close. 

Everyone ducked into the shadows again, waiting for the speaker to continue. Take much more of what? The crowds? If so, they may just have a new ally. 

“You don’t listen, you _sabotage_ my projects, and now, you try to _poof me_ behind my back!? I don’t care what White says, I cannot HANDLE YOU anymore!” From their spot in the alleyway, Connie could see a short pink gem strut into view. She was chubby and stout, and she didn’t look like she posed much of a threat at all, but as soon as they saw what she was holding in her tight grip, everyone gasped.

“I don’t care what she says, either!” Pearl announced, tugging desperately to get her wrist free from the other gem. “I am _NOT_ going back to just being a servant! You cannot control me, no matter how much you want to!”

The smaller gem spun around, glaring hard at Pearl (who was easily twice her height). “I might not be able to, but I certainly know who _can._ She’s been wanting a pearl of her own for eons, and now, she’s finally getting one, because I _CANNOT STAND_ you!”

Pearl rolled her eyes. “Fine, then, hand me off to someone else. That doesn’t change anything!”

“Oh, you’ll see.” The pink gem grinned at her. “I give you five cycles before you go back to being the obedient servant you were designed to be.”

Connie held a hand up to her mouth. She knew pearl’s rolls on Homeworld were to be servants, but this was too much. Good on Pearl for fighting back, though; never going down without a fight.

Behind her, Bismuth moved to go out and face the pink gem keeping Pearl captive, but Lapis stopped her, blocking her way. “Bismuth, we can’t,” she whisper-yelled. “We have a mission, remember? Besides, we can’t just grab her and go! Pretty much all of Homeworld will see us, and then White will know for sure where we are! 

Connie felt torn. On one hand, she wanted to go get Steven, but on the other, Pearl was her mentor, and she cared about the gem deeply. Pearl didn’t deserve this. She frowned in thought, then in determination, getting an idea. 

“Well, let’s follow her, then,” she suggested, turning to Bismuth. “If we can find out who that pink gem is giving Pearl to, then we can try and intercept, right? Then we can steal her back! Or, if we can’t, it’ll be easier to find her again later!”

Bismuth blinked, then thought about this. “We still gotta get to Steven,” she decided, “but Pearl and that other gem were headed in the same direction we are. Following might be our best bet at freeing her. ‘Sides, we might need her up there.” She looked back up at the ship, Connie turning to follow her gaze. “Somethin’ tells me freeing Steven is gonna be ten times harder than anything we’ll go through tryin’ to free Pearl.” Bismuth chuckled. “It might be a good practice run, actually.”

Lapis grinned. “I guess that settles it, then.” She turned to the group. “Any objections?”

Connie scanned the crowd, looking for any doubt, but surprisingly, there was none. Everyone wanted to go after Pearl as well. Even Greg was smiling at the thought of freeing his friend. Connie grinned in determination. “None here.”

Bismuth grinned her signature grin, filling everyone with confidence. “Then we got nothin’ to lose! After that gem!”

Sticking to the shadows, the group began to follow them, keeping Pearl in sight between buildings, following the leader wherever she may go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THE TITLE FITS BOTH SECTIONS, MWAHAHAHA!
> 
> Anyways. I love playing with Garnet's future vision, but at the same time, I don't want her to suddenly have all the answers just because she has future vision. It isn't a cheat card, it's just a map. She still has to determine the destination. Plus, some things on the map are yet to be discovered and documented, so some surprises can and probably will appear, and I adore that concept. 
> 
> We as a fandom should let Garnet use her future vision more often, and play around with it and not have her know everything. Or, when we need her to _not_ know something, have it catch her off-guard since she didn't expect it. There's so much we can do with it, y'all. 
> 
> Also: that pink gem is Morganite, from the End of an Era artbook. I don't have it personally, I've just seen pictures, but I wanted to put her in here anyway since I like the concept of her and wish she appeared in the show. I kinda wish a brought Rhodonite along now; she'd have a lot of Conflicted Feelings about going on this sidequest lol.
> 
> Let me know if you enjoyed! I have a whole plotline written out now, and _even I am afraid of it._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you enjoyed! I consume them to help fuel my motivation to keep writing. OwO


End file.
